Raising a Jester
by longshot07
Summary: The story of a group of outcasts, and the child of their team. Leading to an unfortunate event involving a broken staff, a curse and a knight. BatB AU prequel to Knight and the Beast
1. Chapter 1

_**Foundling**_

* * *

Lavaria ran down the street with a few bags full of supplies and food in her hands. She made a sharp turn into a corner next to an alleyway. A woman with dark skin, black long hair tied in a dreadlock, wearing a red and orange dress with two whips tied to her waist stood and leaned on the brick wall. She turned her head to see Lavaria.

"Did you get the goods, Lavaria?" She asked.

Lavaria smiled as she showed her companion the goods and food she took from the market.

"Should feed the group for a few weeks if we split it all equally." She put the bags on the ground for her companion to see.

The woman looked through the bags with a smile on her face.

"You really know how to get things, Lavy." She complimented as she picked up some bags.

"Whiparella; I just like stealing for the thrill." Lavaria answered with a grin as she picked up the rest of the bags. "Now let's get back to HQ before Monstrox thinks we've been gone for too long."

Lavaria and Whiparella were about to leave town and go back home. But a strange sound made Whiparella stop in her tracks. She looked back to the alleyway as she heard it some more.

"Do you hear that?" Whiparella asked.

"Hear what?" Lavaria asked back.

Soon, both women heard the sound. It was slightly louder now before Whiparella realised what it was. It was the sound of crying. Rather high pitched and squeaky crying. The whip wielding woman quickly followed the sound into the alleyway. Lavaria told her to wait as she ran after her. Whiparella stopped and listened for the sound. She went over to an empty bin and looked. Her eyes blinked when she saw a basket with a white sheet over it behind the bin. Lavaria stopped in the alleyway as Whiparella dropped her bags and approached the basket where the crying was coming from. Whiparella took the white sheet away and gasped when saw what was in the basket. It was a baby.

Lavaria approached as Whiparella gently picked up the crying infant from the basket and cradled it in her arms; calming it down. Lavaria put her bags down as she looked at the child; observing the light blue and purple blanket it was swaddled in and the short fluffy light brown hair on top of its head.

"What's a baby doing in an alleyway?!" Lavaria questioned; sounding angry.

"I don't know." Whiparella answered; finally calming the baby down and getting it to sleep. "Check the basket for a note."

Lavaria nodded and checked the basket. She found a few pieces of cloth that could be used for diapers, a bottle and a few packets of formula. She looked under the cushioning and found a small piece of paper with writing on it.

"Please take care of my son. He deserves better then what I can't provide for him." Lavaria read the note out loud.

Lavaria looked at Whiparella as she rocked and cradled the nameless baby.

"Slacker didn't even bother naming him." She spat in disgust.

They watched as the baby yawned and stretched his tiny arms; escaping from the wrapping around him. Whiparella felt a slight chill go down her spine when she noticed how undernourished he looked. He was not starving, but he almost looked premature and pale.

"Could've at least dropped him off at the orphanage instead of a dirty alleyway." Lavaria continued.

She watched Whiparella stand up with the sleeping infant in her arms. The whip wielder gave Lavaria a stern look.

"We're taking him with us."

Lavaria looked at Whiparella with wide eyes.

"What do you mean? We can't take him back to HQ! Monstrox wouldn't allow it!" Lavaria argued. "We should just drop him off at the town orphanage."

"I grew up in an orphanage, Lavaria. No child should have to go through that." Whiparella argued back. "Just look at him."

Lavaria looked at the baby sleeping in Whiparellas' arms. She tilted her head a little and thought about it. He did look pretty cute and tiny. Maybe she and Whiparella could convince the others to keep him and help raise him. Lavaria sighed as she picked up the basket with the baby items and some of the bags.

"Alright. We can keep him."

Whiparella smiled at Lavaria and jumped slightly.

"I know we won't regret this, Lavy!" She spoke happily. "I'll make sure he gets everything he needs!"

Lavaria smiled as Whiparella picked the rest of the bags and held the baby in her left arm.

"We'll see if the boys will like him. And if the master says otherwise, we'll fight for him." Lavaria reassured as the two began to make their way out of town with the little foundling.

* * *

Whiparella and Lavaria walked through the forest with the supplies and the child they found. They made to a stone bridge leading to a castle across a moat full of water. The large iron doors in front of the castle opened up slightly and someone peeked through the gap. It was a dark skinned man with a masculine figure, black hair tied into a pony tail and a short goatee on his chin. The man opened the door fully as he called out to the people inside. He looked on as Lavaria and Whiparella made it to the door.

"Did you have any trouble today?" He asked rather blankly.

"No we did not, Magmar." Lavaria replied; giving the general a bag of groceries.

In a few seconds, more men and two red and brown puppy dogs came into the entrance room to see what the two women of their group brought home.

"Took you two long enough." A tough looking man with bandages wrapped around his hands crossed his arms impatiently.

"Give them a break, Moltor; the town is an hour away on foot." A man with hair that looked like fire replied to him harshly.

Whiparella shook her head and rolled her eyes as Lavaria gave them a bag of food and four more men came over.

"Now remember to share it, you two. You may be brothers, but you always fight like animals." Lavaria spoke to Moltor and Flama; making them roll their eyes away from her.

Two large men with similar appearances came up and grabbed their food from Lavaria. One of them had an eyepatch over his right eye while the other still had both.

"Here you go, Sparkks." Lavaria handed a bag to the large man with the eyepatch.

"Have you got mine?" The other man asked.

"Yes, Burnzie." Lavaria smiled at him as she gave him the other bag.

The two dogs barked and jumped on a shirtless man with a hood over his head and on eyepatch over his left eye. Lavaria approached him with a bag.

"Here's some food for you and your pets, Beast Master." She handed the bag to him.

"Oh, they're not my pets; they're my babies." Beast master corrected as the two dogs jumped up to him. "Isn't that right Muffin and Poopsie?"

Lavaria and Whiparella laughed as the dogs barked happily in response to their master. Magmar just rolled his eyes in Whiparellas direction. But he went wide eyed when he noticed the blue and purple bundle in her arms.

"Whiparella, what is that?" He asked as he pointed at it.

Whiparella stopped and looked at Magmar. Lavaria noticed and told everyone to quiet down.

"Everyone. We have someone here who we need to show you." She gathered everyone's attention; making them gather around her.

With everyone watching, Whiparella put her hand up and moved the blanket away from the baby's face; showing him sleeping soundly. All the men looked with wide eyes; as if they had never seen a baby in their lives.

"What the heck is that squishy looking thing?" Moltor questioned; making Flama hit him in his side.

"That's a baby, you idiot." Flama said in an annoyed and angry tone.

"Where did you find it?" Beast Master questioned.

"We found him abandoned in an alleyway in town. Whiparella wanted to take him back here." Lavaria explained.

Just as Lavaria finished speaking, the baby shifted in his blanket and slowly opened his eyes; showing a bright green colour.

"He's so little. He could fit right in my hand." Sparkks laughed as he put his hand close to the baby.

The little foundling blinked before he made a soft cooing noise and grabbed Sparkks finger with his tiny hands. Everyone but Magmar laughed and smiled at the sight.

"I think he likes you, Sparkks." Beast Master commented.

"This kid is smart." Burnzie said with a cheery grin.

"No way; kids are terrified of you two." Moltor teased.

Another person came over to see what everyone was looking at. He was rather short and had weird looking eyes. His hair was short and black and he was wearing a long red shirt. Whiparella quickly noticed him and smiled.

"We brought a new member home with us, Book Keeper." She said; bending down so Book Keeper could see the baby.

Book keeper blinked and tilted his head as the infant looked up at him. The tiny child reached out to him as he made a squeaky cooing noise. Book keeper smiled as he let the baby grab and hold his finger; making everyone laugh. Except Magmar.

"Have you two thought ahead about this? The master wanted you to bring back food, not a foundling." The general reminded. "What will you say when he finds out about this?"

Lavaria raised an eyebrow at Magmar.

"I know what Monstrox said, but the last thing we were going to do was leave a child-"

"What's going on down here?"

Everyone jumped and looked up to the top of the stairs. Two men were looking down on them. One was rather short and normal looking with long curly black hair with a moustache and goatee, with purple clothes that seemed quite fancy compared to everyone else. But the man beside him was the complete opposite. He looked down at the group with glowing yellow and red eyes, but his face was mostly covered by his black cloak and hood. Everyone felt a chill go up their spines as the man came down the stairs and towered over everyone but Burnzie and Sparkks.

"What's everyone laughing and smiling about?" He questioned; eyeing everyone suspiciously.

No one said anything. But the hooded man quickly noticed what the fuss was about when he saw the baby in Whiparellas' arms.

"What the heck is that?" He questioned; sounding very weirded out.

"We found him in town. He was left abandoned in an alleyway." Whiparella nervously explained.

"We couldn't just leave him there, so we brought him back with us." Lavaria added.

The hooded man raised a brow at the two women.

"I didn't say you could bring back a baby." He spoke harshly. "Take it back."

Everyone watched anxiously as Whiparella stepped forward.

"Master Monstrox; please be reasonable!" She raised her voice slightly. "He would've died if we left him there!"

Monstrox leaned in and glared at the whip wielder.

"Let me ask you, Whiparella. How do you think you'll be able to take care of a baby while doing your job in my army?" He questioned her. "How!?"

Whiparella and Monstrox looked down as the baby began to cry. Monstrox backed off while Whiparella quickly responded by putting the infant over her shoulder and sooth him till he calmed down. Lavaria stepped forward.

"We can take turns taking care of him." She suggested.

"Yeah, and we can teach how to steal things when he's older!" Moltor added.

"And Book keeper can play with him!" Flama added, making Book keeper nod in agreement.

"And Lavaria can steal baby things from town!" Beast Master added.

"And me and Sparkks can teach him how to fight when he's old enough." Burnzie contributed with Sparkks nodding in agreement.

"And he can sleep in the women's quarters with me and Lavaria and I can make clothes for him!" Whiparella added.

Monstrox looked at Magmar as he waited for what he had to say.

"I guess we have a new member for our team, Master." The general shrugged.

Monstrox shook his head as he looked at the man at the top of the stairs.

"I guess you want to keep the baby too, Roberto?" He asked sarcastically.

Roberto fidgeted with his shirt as he tried to answer.

"I suppose, capo." He spoke with an Italian accent.

Monstrox rolled his eyes before he started walking back up the stairs.

"Whatever, just keep him out of my room and keep him away from the stone monsters." He said tiredly.

Everyone watched as Monstrox went back up the stairs; knowing the master was forcing Roberto to make more monsters for his army. Everyone turned their attention to the baby boy in Whiparellas arms; who finally stopped crying. Lavaria smiled at the little being.

"So what do you plan on calling him?" Magmar questioned.

"We don't have a name for him yet." Whiparella answered.

"But we'll think of something." Lavaria added.

Whiparella and Lavaria went back into the women's quarters with their foundling. Lavaria put the basket on her bed and took out everything in it. Whiparella gently placed the baby on her bed before she unwrapped the blanket around him; showing only the diaper and a pair of white socks he was wearing.

"Looks like you'll be staying with us, little one." She smiled as she gently bopped him on the nose; making him giggle.

Whiparella looked in surprise when she noticed that the blanket the baby had around him was not actually a blanket. She held up a hooded blue and purple striped jumper. She noticed that the hood had two tails coming out of the sides, resembling a jester's hat. Whiparella thought it was quite cute. Lavaria grabbed some quilts and blankets from the cupboard; planning to make a makeshift bed for the baby.

"We need to think of a name for him. We can't just keep calling him a foundling." She reminded as she put the things down.

Whiparella thought about it as she looked at the jumper and looked at the child; who was now playing with his socks. Whiparella smiled as she thought of a name that would suit him.

"I think he looks like a Jestro." She showed Lavaria the jumper.

Lavaria raised an eyebrow.

"Jestro? Isn't that a type of clown?" She asked in confusion.

"Jesters are performers; not clowns. They have grace and they have a duty to make people happy." Whiparella corrected.

"But that's what clowns do as well."

Whiparella sat down on the bed beside the baby; picking him up and placing him on her lap. Lavaria shrugged.

"Well he wouldn't be the only one here with a weird name." She smiled. "I guess that's a good name for him."

Whiparella looked down at the little one.

"Do you like the name we picked for you, little one?" She smiled at him.

The baby giggled and smiled as he reached up to her. Then it was official. He now had a name, and it was Jestro.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Seven years Later**_

* * *

"Jestro? Where are you?"

Lavaria scratched the top of her head as she looked for the boy. She woke a few minutes ago to find his bed empty. Whiparella must have woken up before he did because she was also out of bed. Lavaria looked everywhere she could think of.

"Jestro?" She called out again.

Lavaria heard a snickering noise behind her. She turned around, but there was no one there. She was about to call out again when she got the fright of her life. She jumped when the loud sound of an air horn hit her ears. She got her breathing under control when she heard childish laughter break out above her. She looked up to see a small child hanging onto the wooden support beam; wearing a brightly coloured blue and purple hood and laughing like there was no tomorrow. Lavaria smiled and put her hands on her hips.

"Jestro." She shook her head in disbelief.

"I sure scared you, Lavaria." Little Jestro got his laughter under control as he jumped down into Lavarias' arms.

Lavaria caught him and ruffled up his already messy and wild hair as she smirked.

"You sure did, you little trickster." She put him down and let him stand on the floor. "Now get down stairs or you'll miss out on breakfast. Flama and Moltor made waffles."

Jestro gasped and smiled wide.

"Waffles!?" He excitedly squealed before running off.

Lavaria yelled and told him not to run so fast, but he was already around the corner. Jestro giggled and laughed as he ran; stopping to slide down the banister of the stairs. Burnzie and Sparkks came in and watched as the little boy slid down the banister with a joyful laugh and continued running to the kitchen.

"Morning, Jestro!" The two large men greeted.

Jestro looked back at them with a smile.

"Hi, guys-"

Jestro let out a squeaky oof as he ran into something. He fell bottom first on the floor, but he quickly sat back up. He usually laughed it off when something like this happened. But when he looked up to see who or what he ran into, he gasped.

Jestro felt his insides go cold as Monstrox stared down at him with his yellow and red eyes. Jestro would have uttered an oops, but he was too scared and frozen to say anything or make any noise.

"Watch where you're going." Monstrox finally said.

Jestro watched as Monstrox walked behind him and left. But the cold feeling in the boys' gut was still there. Jestro got up off the floor and walked into the dining room. He noticed that everything was silent before he walked in, but the room seemed to light up with chatter and greetings when he came. Whiparella and the men of the group were all eating breakfast at the table. Beast Master came up to Jestro and lifted him off the ground.

"Here's our favourite jester!" The monster tamer ruffled up the boys' hair.

Whiparella smiled as Jestro laughed and squirmed. Beast Master put Jestro in a seat next to him and Whiparella.

"Sleep well, dearie?" She asked the excitable.

"Yeah, and I'm hungry for waffles!" Jestro replied excitedly as he grabbed his breakfast.

Moltor and Flama watched with wide eyes as Jestro grabbed three waffles and smothered them with maple syrup, strawberries and a dab of chocolate hazelnut spread. Flama looked like he was to turn green at the sugar induced sight as Jestro grabbed a knife and fork and started eating.

"How does he eat all that without going into a food coma!?" He whispered to his brother.

"Haven't you seen him afterwards? He runs like there's no tomorrow when he's had so much sugar." Moltor whispered back.

Burnzie and Sparkks walked in and greeted everyone.

"Morning, guys." The two large men greeted cheerfully.

"Hey." Moltor and Flama greeted back.

"Hi, guys!" Jestro greeted with a mouth full of waffle.

"Jestro, don't talk with your mouth full." Whiparella reminded.

Jestro put his hand over his mouth as he quietly apologised. Lavaria walked in and everyone greeted her. She took a seat next to Whiparella and watched as the young boy finished his breakfast.

"So, Jestro; I and Moltor are going into town after breakfast." She spoke to him. "Would you like to come?"

Jestro wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled at his care takers.

"I'd love to." He replied back.

When they finished their food, Lavaria and Moltor took Jestro and left to go to town. But as they were leaving, Monstrox watched with a repulsed glare. He went back to his chambers to find Roberto working on a sculpture that resembled a monster. The artist quickly noticed the rather disgruntled look of his master.

"Everything alright, master?" He asked.

Monstrox took a seat near the desk he had in his chamber.

"We've barely made any progress and we're short on monsters for the army. What do you think?" The necromancer replied sarcastically.

Roberto rolled his eyes as he got back to his work.

"I'm working as fast as I can, but you can't rush perfection." He spoke under his breath.

Monstrox glared at the sculptor.

"I'm not rushing perfection, I'm rushing you." He replied rather harshly. "But what's really bothering me is that kid."

Roberto raised an eyebrow; knowing that the necromancer was talking about Jestro.

"He's so small and hyperactive." Monstrox continued. "That should drive everyone nuts, but they love him. Ever since the day they found him."

"He's a child with optimism. What's not to love?" Roberto went back to his work.

Monstrox just rolled his eyes the other way.

"It makes me remember how old I really am." The necromancer continued.

"Oh, you're not old." Roberto pretended to care.

"I've still got a few decades in me! But when I take over the kingdom, I might be in my twilight years by then."

Monstrox sat in his chair and put his boots on the desk; thinking and rubbing his chin. But then he remembered something he learned in his youth. He remembered that there was a forbidden ritual that would allow him to transfer his soul into another person and claim their body as his own. He could do that when he took over the kingdom. But he needed someone who could use magic, and half of his followers were anything but. Roberto took a step back and looked at his work with pride.

"Perfecto." The sculptor spoke with pride and flare in his voice.

Monstrox looked up at the sculpture and smiled. He did not think much of Roberto's artistic abilities, but his creations always looked like just the thing he needed. Terrible and horrific monsters. Monstrox grabbed his staff and took a long look at the statue of the large winged monster.

"You've done it again, Roberto." The necromancer rubbed his staff with anticipation.

"Really?" Roberto smiled.

"Yeah, now get out of the way."

Roberto quickly ran out of the way as Monstrox began to cast a spell. The necromancer held his staff above his head as a dark purple aura formed around him. Then lightning blasted out of the staff and hit the stone creation. Roberto took a step back while Monstrox grinned evilly as the creature stood up and let


	3. Chapter 3

_**The Market**_

* * *

Jestro watched with excitable glee at everything going on around him. Lavaria and Moltor lead him through the markets of Knighton, exposing him to an overload of the senses. Everything seemed so colourful to the eye. There were places where you could buy food, places were you could buy fabric, even places to buy paint and art supplies. If he wasn't holding Lavarias hand, Jestro would have wondered off and get lost among it all. He looked up at the sneaky woman and the tough fighter.

"What're we doing?" He asked excitedly.

"Well, I'm going to get some supplies." Lavaria answered as they stopped.

Jestro noticed that they were away from the people in the market, but he paid attention to Lavaria as she spoke to Moltor.

"Look after Jestro while I'm gone, Moltor." She ordered.

"Do I look like a babysitter?" He asked rather sarcastically.

"Just do it."

Lavaria walked off and left Jestro alone with the tough twin of Flama. Jestro looked up as Moltor picked his nose.

"Picking your nose is gross you know." The boy reminded.

"I'm not picking, kid; I'm scratching it." Moltor replied.

When Moltor was done 'scratching' his nose, he bent down to Jestros level and smiled.

"Since Lavaria let you come with us today, I think we should have a little fun." He said with a rather mischievous grin.

"I like fun!" Jestro jumped up excitedly.

"Who doesn't?"

Moltor stood back up and told Jestro to follow him. Jestro followed him towards the market and a fruit stand. Moltor made him stop in his tracks and bent down to his level again.

"You know that Lavaria is the one who brings back food for us, right?" He spoke to the boy with his arm around him.

"Yeah?" Jestro replied.

"But do you know how she gets it?"

"No."

Moltor smiled as he looked towards the fruit. He thought the person running looked a bit daft.

"Wait here and watch what I do." Moltor stood up and walked towards the stand.

Jestro watched curiously as Moltor casually made his way over to the fruit stand. Moltor looked at the range of apples, oranges, strawberries and watermelons. The elderly looking man running the stand looked up from his chair.

"May I help you, sir?" He asked.

"I don't know." Moltor put his hand to his chin. "Would you by any chance have any dragon fruit?"

"Dragon fruit?" The man repeated in question. "Let me take a look in the back.

When the man had his back turned, Moltor reached out and took a big and juicy strawberry and put it in his pocket. Jestro tilted his head to the side as he watched. The man turned back around to face Moltor.

"Sorry sir, I don't have any dragon fruit." He answered disappointedly.

"Oh, that's alright. See ya." Moltor said goodbye and walked away.

Jestro watched as Moltor smiled and snickered to himself as he walked back to Jestro.

"And that's how it's done." He took the strawberry out and took a bite out of it.

Jestro gave Moltor a confused look as he thought about what he just saw. Moltor took something that wasn't his. Moltor looked down at the boy as he took a bite of the stolen fruit.

"Now you try it." Moltor spoke with a mouth full.

Jestro looked at the man like he was mad.

"Me do it?" He pointed to himself in question.

"Yeah. Just do what I did. But ask for another fruit." Moltor advised.

Jestro looked at the stand and looked back at Moltor before looking back at the stand. Jestro blinked before making his way over; trying to do what Moltor did. Jestro looked up at all the fruit above him; barely being visible to the man running the stand.

"Excuse me mister?" Jestro put his arm up to be seen.

The elderly looking man looked over his fruit to look down at Jestro.

"Well, hello there young one. How can I help you?" The man greeted with a friendly smile.

"Do you have any grapefruit?" Jestro asked; making himself look innocent.

"Hmm, lots of odd requests today. Let me check out back." The man replied before turning his back to Jestro.

Jestro quickly looked over the fruit while the owners back was turned. He felt bad doing it, but he quickly grabbed an apple and stuffed it in his hood. He quickly made himself look like he did nothing when the man turned back around to face him.

"I'm sorry, young man. I afraid I'm all out of grapefruit." The man said rather disappointedly.

"That's ok. Thank you anyway." Jestro said before he started walking away.

The man waved goodbye to the boy as he went back to Moltor. But the man went wide eyed when he noticed something red and round peeking out of his colourful hood.

"Excuse me, boy?" The man called out.

Jestro gasped as he looked back. Moltor shook his head as the man got out from behind the fruit stand and ran after Jestro. Moltor picked up Jestro as he ran back to him and held him under his arm; making a run for it. Moltor looked back as the man chased after him and Jestro; calling out things like stop and apple taker.

"Dang it." Moltor cursed under his breath as he ran.

Jestro looked back as the man gave chase. He must have been quite fit. Jestro look forward to see a pile of firewood. As Moltor ran past it, he held up his arms and waved right. Moltor stopped and watched as the man slowed down and caught his breath. Moltor blinked as the pile of wood began to shake. The man took a step back as the pile fell over; blocking the way. Moltor looked at the fallen pile as he heard the man utter dang it while Jestro took the apple from his hood and started eating it.

"Wow." Moltor said blankly as he stared.

He heard footsteps behind him. He quickly turned to see Lavaria with a few bags of food and supplies. She raised a brow at the sight of the fallen wood.

"What's going on here?" She questioned.

Moltor was about to answer, but Jestro beat him to it.

"We took strawberries and apples from a fruit stand." Jestro said with a mouth full.

Lavaria gave Moltor a rather hard stare.

"You were teaching him to steal?" She asked rather harshly.

"He's gotta learn some time." Moltor replied rather bluntly.

With that, Lavaria dropped her bags and took Jestro out of Moltors arm.

"You're carrying the supplies." She said in a slightly annoyed tone.

Moltor rolled his eyes the other way as he picked up the bags. The trio had to take a different way out of town thanks to the markets being blocked and because of motors' stealing lessons. As they crossed through the forest, Moltor gave Jestro weird looks behind his back; thinking of the fallen firewood.

"So kid, how did you do that back there?" He asked.

"I just asked Mr Fruit guy for something he didn't have and did what you did." Jestro answered.

Lavaria gave Moltor a hard stare.

"Don't look at me like that." He said to her before turning back to Jestro. "Not the fruit, I'm talking about the firewood that fell over because of you waving your arms around."

Lavaria blinked and raised her brow as Jestro answered Moltors question.

"I don't know. I just looked at it and thought of it falling over." Jestro answered as honestly as he could.

Lavaria was not sure. But what Jestro described himself doing sounded like magic. It could be nothing, but if Monstrox found out... She could not think of it.

"I'm sure it was nothing sweetie." She said to the boy kindly; gently nuzzling his cheek and making him giggle.

Moltor just shrugged as the trio continued their way home.

* * *

"Then what happened, Moltor?"

Moltor was sitting in the living area with the other men; telling them about his and Jestros little adventure in the market and the fruit stand.

"Well the guy running it started chasing after me and the little guy." Moltor continued as he folded one leg over the other. "I ran passed a pile of firewood as he chased us, and the weirdest thing happened."

"What happened?" Beast Master asked; patting his two dogs.

Moltor picked his ear as he thought of how to continue.

"Jestro waved his arms towards it and it fell over." He answered as honestly as he could.

All the men stared Moltor like he was nuts. But Flama just laughed.

"That's a big load of bull, Moltor!" Flama refused to believe his brother.

"I'm not a liar, Flama; I saw it happen. Kid even said it himself." Moltor justified his story.

Magmar shook his head in disbelief.

"Kids will say anything. He's only a seven year old." He argued.

Burnzie and Sparkks were both eating protein bars from their stash of food while Book Keeper sat between them.

"Maybe Jestro is a wizard." Burnzie suggested as he munched on his protein bar.

"How could he be a wizard? He's just a kid." Flama questioned.

"He might be getting his powers." Sparkks suggested.

Book keeper smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Well, if he does have magic powers, I hope he doesn't end up being like you know who." Magmar spoke rather worryingly.

"Yeah. Wait, who?" Moltor questioned.

"He's talking about Monstrox, you moron." Flama answered harshly.

"But Monstrox is a necromancer, isn't he?" Beast Master asked.

"Yes. But if he knew that Jestro had potential to be a wizard, he would probably try to take him and turn him into a necromancer like himself." Magmar explained.

"Last thing I want is a little Monstrox running around." Burnzie said with worry.

"Yeah." Sparkks agreed.

"Maybe we should keep this between us. For Jestros sake." Flama suggested.

Everyone nodded and agreed with Flama; agreeing to keep this amongst themselves. But they had no idea that Roberto was listening to the first part of the conversation and went back to work without hearing the rest.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Potential_**

* * *

Monstrox leaned back on his seat as he tapped his nails on his desk. He waited for Roberto to return to making another stone monster. He heard the sound of the door opening; making him turn to see the artist coming in.

"Took you long enough." The necromancer spoke sarcastically.

"And a good afternoon to you too." Roberto replied in the same tone before picking up his tools and getting back to work.

Monstrox just rolled his eyes the other way. The necromancer picked up his staff and a rag; intending to polish and shine it. Roberto began taking away unwanted bits of stone of his work in progress. He turned to look at his master a few times; feeling bored and wanting to strike up a conversation.

"So, Lavaria and Moltor took Jestro to the market with them today." The artist tried to start a conversation with his master.

Monstrox looked up with a disinterested look.

"And I should care because?" He replied rather tiredly as he polished his staff.

"Well when they came back, Moltor said something strange happened with the boy." Roberto explained further.

"The kid does strange stuff all the time, he's a weirdo."

"But he's never showed signs of magic til today."

Monstrox froze in place when Roberto finished his sentence. The necromancer looked up at the sculptor with his yellow eyes wide.

"What did you say?" He questioned.

Roberto raised a brow as he resumed his work.

"I just said that Jestro is only a child and has an excuse for being the way he is." The sculptor replied with a shrug.

Monstrox quickly threw the rag he was using away and got out of his seat. Roberto dropped his tools as Monstrox ran up to him and pointed his staff at him.

"What did they say about Jestro having signs of magic!?" The necromancer demanded.

Roberto held his arms up like he was at gun point.

"I don't know the whole thing! Moltor just said that Jestro made a stack of firewood fall over without touching it!" The sculptor spoke with panic. "They think he might have the potential to be a wizard and that's all I know, I swear!"

Monstrox softened his demanding look before taking the staff away. Roberto put his hand on his chest as he got his breathing under control; not noticing the smile appearing on his masters' face.

"It's perfect." Monstrox spoke with the smile in his voice.

"What's perfect?" Roberto got his breathing under control and calmed down.

"If what you say is true, then this could be a big advantage for me!"

Roberto raised a brow at the necromancer.

"You?"

Monstrox realised what he just said.

"I meant us, obviously." He corrected himself. "Anyway back to the matter at hand. If the little joke boy has the spark, I can rule forever Knighton forever when I take over."

Roberto looked at Monstrox like he was mad.

"How?" He asked.

Monstrox gave the sculptor an eerie grin. Roberto looked at him blankly before he remembered their conversation from this morning. He went wide eyed at the thought.

"But, Monstrox! Jestro is only a child! You can't do that to him!" He spoke in panic.

"Relax, Mr moustache. I know he's just a kid." Monstrox told to calm himself.

Roberto still felt and looked uneasy as Monstrox walked towards the door. The necromancer gave the sculptor a rather serious look.

"But I'll have to toughen him up." He spoke in a threatening tone of voice. "This is between us. Don't tell anyone; especially Whiparella or Lavaria. Those two act like they're his parents."

Roberto looked down at the floor. He could not let Monstrox do something like this. But if he objected, he would lose his position and be forced to go back to where Monstrox found him. Jobless and homeless.

"Inteso."

"What?" Monstrox did not catch that.

"Understood." Roberto repeated himself in English.

Monstrox let out a quiet oh before leaving the room and making his way down stairs. As he got closer, he heard the sound of childish laughter.

In the living area, Whiparella and Lavaria were watching as Jestro played a game of birdie with Sparkks. Jestro let out a joyful squeal as Sparkks lifted him up and threw him in the air to catch him again on the way down.

"Again!" Jestro giggled for more.

Whiparella and Lavaria smiled at each other as they watched their boy being lifted and put in the air like a bird. Sparkks was laughing in joy as well. But the one eyed giant of a man looked at the door way and froze with a wide terrified eye. Jestro looked down at him with a confused face when he stopped spinning.

"Why'd you stop?" The boy asked.

Lavaria and Whiparella looked at the doorway in fear as well. Jestro turned his head to see what they looking at. The boy quietly gasped and jumped into Sparkks arms when he saw Monstrox standing there. Jestro was always scared of Monstrox because he always grumpy and grim. But something was wrong this time. The necromancer was smiling.

"Having fun?" He finally said after a few silent seconds.

"I wasn't slacking off, Master! I swear!" Sparkks nervously blurted out; holding Jestro in a protective manner.

"Hey, relax. I'm not gonna get mad at you for having fun."

Whiparella and Lavaria felt their insides going cold as Monstrox stepped inside the living room and made his way to Sparkks and Jestro. Jestro buried himself into Sparkks chest as Monstrox gave him an unintentionally grim smile.

"I just wanted to talk to little joker here." The necromancer falsely reassured his disciples.

Lavaria stood up with her arms crossed.

"Why do you want to talk to Jestro?" She questioned suspiciously.

"You always pretend he's never here." Whiparella added.

"Oh come on. I'm part of the family too. I just figured that maybe I could be like his grandpa." Monstrox said to the two women before turning to Jestro. "How bout I give you a tour of my office, kiddo?"

Jestro watched as the necromancer held his hand out to him. Sparkks gently put the boy down to let him decide. Jestro looked up at the necromancer nervously as he gave him a rather strange look. Not knowing what to do, he slowly gave Monstrox his hand. Before he could say anything, Monstrox was leading him out of the living room and up the stairs. Lavaria, Whiparella and Sparkks watched with worried looks as Jestro looked at them with a look that screamed 'help'. Lavaria put her arms around a teary Whiparella when Jestro disappeared from their line of sight.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Apprentice**_

* * *

Jestro felt multiple chills go up his spine as Monstrox practically dragged him to his office. The child watched with fear as they walked past stone gargoyle statues in the hallway leading to Monstroxs room. Monstrox stopped before he opened the door. Jestro tugged at his hood as the necromancer gave him a rather wide grin with his sharp teeth.

"Come on in. I just had the room redecorated." Monstrox spoke casually.

Jestro did not really have a choice since Monstrox practically had an iron grip on his little wrist. Jestro was pulled into the office. The small boy looked around the dark coloured room; unnerved by the gothic decoration and the weird monster statue in the centre being worked on by Roberto. Roberto turned away from his work as Monstrox brought the boy in; nervously fiddling with his fingers. Monstrox let go of Jestro and towered over him; making the boy seem small and helpless compared to him.

"So..."

Monstrox bent down to Jestros level; using his staff as support. Jestro froze as the necromancer grinned at him.

"I heard from the boys that you got into a bit of mischief at the market today. Am I correct?" He questioned.

Jestro stayed silent as he nodded. Monstrox raised a brow at him.

"No need to be afraid of me, kid." He falsely reassured. "I'm your friend. I just want to know what happened."

Jestro looked down at the floor as he played with his sleeves.

"Moltor was teaching me how to take fruit." The boy started to explain. "But I got caught and we had to run away. When the guy in charge was chasing us, we ran passed a pile of wood and it fell down."

"Did it land on the guy?" Monstrox asked excitedly.

"...No; he was fine."

Monstrox looked away with a disappointed scowl.

"How boring." He muttered before turning back to the boy. "But, just how did that wood fall over? I bet it was better than you make it sound."

Jestro shrugged his little shoulders as he answered.

"I just looked at it and moved my arms a little then it fell over." He explained in a straight foreword way."

Monstrox grinned in delight. Roberto knew this was going to go to something terrible.

"You know what I think happened, jester?" The necromancer asked.

Jestro just shook his head no.

"I think you have what it takes to be a very powerful sorcerer." He pointed his staff at Jestros chest.

Jestro looked up with a curious look in his eyes. He tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"But all I did was make something fall over." He tried to make sense of Monstrox and his words.

"That's just the first step, my boy." Monstrox answered his confusion. "Which brings us to the reason why you're up here."

Roberto watched in discomfort as Monstrox put his arm around the boy and brought him close.

"How would you like to be my apprentice?" He asked with a big sharp toothed smile.

Jestro blinked at him with a rather confused face.

"Apprentice?" He repeated the word in question.

"Ya know; my pupil. My student." Monstrox tried to narrow it down for the boy. "I'll be your teacher, and I'll teach you how to use magic in all kinds of ways. I can make you an all-powerful being. So what'd ya say, kid?"

Roberto watched as Jestro thought about it. The sculptor hoped that the boy would decline the offer and go back down stairs. But if he did, Monstrox would not take no for an answer. On the other hand, Jestro was only a child and he would not really know what the consequences of saying yes would be. Roberto just had to ignore it, even if it made his insides cold and sick. Jestro looked back up at Monstrox.

"...Okay." He answered with an uncertain tone.

Roberto told himself not to look as Monstrox smiled and ruffled up the boys' hair.

"You've made the right decision, Jestro." The necromancer stood up and led him to the door. "We'll start your first lesson next week."

Jestro was about to exit the room. Monstrox stopped him for a moment.

"And one more thing. When we start the lessons, don't tell anyone what I teach you." The necromancer advised; his smile disappearing. "Understand?"

Jestro took a step back as Monstrox stopped smiling. The boy nervously nodded a yes. Monstrox smiled again before closing the door.

When Jestro was out of his sight, Monstrox started humming to himself in triumph. Roberto froze as he watched the necromancer sit down at his desk. Monstrox took notice and glared.

"What're you looking at?" He questioned.

"Nothing!" Roberto quickly got back to work.

Outside, Jestro made his way back down stairs. He walked into the living area to see everyone sitting around with nervous and worried looks on their faces. Whiparella looked towards the doorway and lightly gasped; making everyone look the same direction. Jestro just put his hand up and waved at them.

"Hey, guys-"

Whiparella cut him off by running up to him and hugging him tightly. Everyone gathered around as she started crying.

"Did he hurt you?" Whiparella asked as she held in her sobs.

"No, I'm okay." Jestro answered back; hugging back.

Whiparella let go as Lavaria proceeded to calm her down. Magmar bent down to Jestros level.

"Why did the master want to talk to you?" The general asked; sounding rather concerned.

Everyone watched as Jestro fiddled with his hood.

"He wanted to talk to me about the thing that happened at the market." The boy answered shyly.

Everyone went wide eyed, except for Whiparella who did not know about the market place incident. But Moltor narrowed his brow and gave everyone except Jestro and the girls an angry glare.

"Who's the bird who sang!?" He questioned with rage in his voice.

"Calm down, brother!" Flama held Moltor back.

Whiparella gave them a confused look.

"What are you talking about?" She questioned.

Lavaria calmed her down before she explained.

"Jestro just got into a bit of strife at the market." She tried to explain.

"Then he used magic to get out of it." Moltor interrupted.

"Shut it!" Flama snapped at him.

Whiparella still had a confused look in her eyes.

"Magic? What magic?" She questioned.

Everyone just stayed silent. They were not sure how to say it. Jestro pulled at Whiparellas dress for attention.

"He wants me to be his apprentice." The boy answered to his guardians.

Magmar and the men all looked at each other; recalling their conversation from earlier and regretting it.

"He says we'll start next week." Jestro continued to fiddle with his hood.

Lavaria and Whiparella gave each other weird looks, but Magmar quickly reacted.

"Everyone, I'm sure there is nothing to worry about." The general tried to keep everyone calm and under control. "I don't know how word of Jestros... Talent made it to the master, and now he wants to teach him how to harness it, but I'm sure that aside from that everything will be fine and it will be business as usual."

Magmar tried to look confident and fine. But seeing everyone worried did not help.

"Right?"

Soon he was looking worried. Everyone was worried about their boys' wellbeing and future.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Lesson One_**

* * *

Everyone waited anxiously as the week went past. The day that Monstrox would start the lessons with Jestro was today. Lavaria and Whiparella made sure he was ready for it. They made sure he had a good breakfast beforehand; they made sure he was wearing his favourite blue and purple hood and they made sure he knew what to say and what not to say around Monstrox. Jestro played with his sleeves as Whiparella combed his wild hair; trying to make it look as presentable as possible.

"Just remember, Jestro. When Monstrox tells you to do something, do it." Lavaria reminded.

"Ok, Lavaria." Jestro quietly replied.

"And if he does something to you, tell us." Whiparella asked.

Jestro twitched a little as Whiparella finished talking. He remembered when Monstrox told him not to say anything of what was going to happen during their lessons. The necromancer did not say what he would do him if he did tell, but the boy did not want to find out.

"Ok, Whiparella." He said quietly.

Lavaria and Whiparella sighed and gave their boy a hug; thinking that they did not want to let go of him. But they knew they had to when Roberto walked in and got their attention with a fake cough. The trio looked up at him as he tried to get his words out.

"... The master wants to begin the first lesson now." The sculptor held the door open; signalling Jestro to come with him.

Jestro hesitantly walked up to Roberto when Lavaria and Whiparella let go of him. The pair watched with nervous heartache as their boy left them; following the sculptor to the master. Jestro played with his sleeves as he followed Roberto. The artist looked back and glanced at the boy.

"Don't worry. Monstrox is in a good mood today." Roberto tried to reassure him. "He's just going to teach you how to make things float in the air today."

Jestro looked up at Roberto for a second as they reached Monstroxs' office. The sculptor opened the door, letting the boy go first. Jestro swallowed a mouthful of spit when he saw the necromancer standing right there with an eager and eerie grin on his face.

"Welcome to your first magic lesson, Jestro." He held his arms up; trying to look welcoming. "I bet you're excited, ain't ya?"

Jestro looked up and nodded quickly. Roberto came in and went back to his work.

"I'll just be over here, don't mind me." The sculptor spoke in a rather bored tone.

As Roberto did his thing, Monstrox grabbed something off of his desk and held it in front of him. Jestro blinked as he looked at the staff. The top of it looked like a copper coloured star with a big hole in the middle and the staff was twice as tall as the boy was.

"It's your staff you'll be using for your training." Monstrox explained; dropping it in Jestros' arms.

Jestro took a step back; trying not to fall over. He held the staff with both hands as he looked at it curiously.

"Why do I need this?" He asked.

"It's possible for a wizard and a necromancer to use magic on their own. But a staff amplifies their energy and makes the magic they create more powerful." The necromancer explained.

Monstrox looked down as Jestro pulled a confused face. He rolled his yellow and red eyes the other way.

"It'll make it easier for you to use magic." He simplified it.

Jestro let out a quiet oh as he nodded. Monstrox pulled out a black feather from his robe and put it on the floor. Roberto glanced at the sight before getting back to work. Monstrox got down on one knee beside Jestro and turned to him.

"For our first lesson, I want you to lift that feather off the floor." He instructed.

"Okay." Jestro was about to reach for the feather.

Monstrox stopped the boy and held him back.

"With your magic, not your hands." The necromancer finished.

Jestro blinked at the necromancer. Monstrox could see that he was confused.

"Just point the staff at the feather and picture it going up." He instructed.

Jestro quickly held the staff up and pointed it at the feather. Monstrox watched as he gave the object a hard stare; trying to visualise it going up. Roberto looked at the sight when Jestro started to make a few grunting sounds. Monstrox continued to watch Jestro and the feather; thinking something should be happening. Jestro kept his staff pointed at the object as he grunted some more. Roberto just rolled his eyes away.

"This is just silly." He muttered to himself.

Roberto was about to get back to his work. But something was wrong. He looked at the statue he was working on and noticed that it was going down. Then the ceiling was going down. But that was not what was really happening. He was going up. Roberto began to wave his arms in panic; shouted out some words in Italian. The noise got Monstroxs' attention. The necromancer went wide eyed when he saw Roberto four feet off the ground; Almost reaching the ceiling and panicking.

"Master, please help!" The sculptor called out.

Monstrox heard him, but he was smiling as he looked down at Jestro; who had his eyes dead set on the feather and focusing immensely. Monstrox shook his head in disbelief and pride.

"Hey, kid!" He poked Jestro in his shoulder.

Jestro gasped and jumped as he lost his focus; watching as Roberto fell bottom first on the floor. Monstrox and the shocked boy watched as the artist groaned and rubbed his now sore backside. Jestro watched with shaking nerves while Monstrox started laughing hysterically.

"I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" Jestro frantically apologised; knowing he did not do what Monstrox told him to.

"Why the heck are you apologising for, boy? You did the hard version of this with no problem!" Monstrox spoke excitedly with a giant grin on his face.

Jestro just gave him a confused and slightly fearful look.

"W-what do you mean?" The boy played with his sleeves nervously as he looked up at the necromancer.

"It takes years for someone to lift a human with magic. You did it on your first try." Monstrox kneeled down to Jestros' level as he smiled at him.

Roberto got up and watched as Jestro gave Monstrox a confused face. Monstrox put his hand on his chin in thought.

"Joke boy might be more powerful than he looks, and he's just a kid." He thought to himself. "But he's not ready for anything too big yet."

Monstrox looked back at Jestro; who was still giving him a confused look.

"I think you've done well today." Monstrox stood up and lead Jestro to the door. "We'll call it a day and have another lesson tomorrow."

"But I didn't lift the feather." Jestro pointed out.

"Don't worry about it." Monstrox took the star staff from Jestros' little hands. "The next lesson will be longer."

Jestro watched the necromancer smile at him as he closed the door. Baffled and confused, Jestro made his way back to the living area; trying not to look at the gargoyle statues on his way out of the hallway. The boy carefully made his way down the stairs and walked into the living area. Everyone was sitting around in there; as if they were waiting impatiently for something. Whiparella was the first one to notice him; letting out a light gasp and running up to Jestro to hug him. Everyone else quickly gathered around as Whiparella checked on her boy.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" She asked worriedly and frantically.

"I'm okay, Whippy; really." Jestro answered honestly.

Magmar and the other men watched as Whiparella and Lavaria both looked relieved. Moltor looked down at Jestro.

"So what did the old creep teach you?" He asked.

Jestro wanted to answer. But he remembered how Monstrox told him not to tell the group about what happens during their lessons. But telling them about making Roberto fly would not do any harm. Right?

"Well..." Jestro tried answered.

Everyone raised an eyebrow at the boy when he put his hands over his mouth; trying to hold in what sounded like laughter.

"I tried to make a feather float, but I made Roberto float instead."

Everyone watched as Jestro began to laugh. In a second, Moltor and Flama joined in, Book Keeper began to laugh and Burnzie and Sparkks joined in. Whiparella and Lavaria gave each other odd looks before they both smiled and snickered. Magmar raised a brow.

"He was just teaching you basic magic?" The general questioned.

"If you can call making Roberto fly magic!" Flama replied through hysterical laughter.

Magmar blinked as a smile began to appear on his face. Soon, he started chuckling along with everyone else.

"I suppose it is quite humorous to think about." The general tried to restrain his laughter.

Everyone continued to laugh at the thought, but Whiparella calmed herself and grabbed Lavaria by her arm.

"I need a word with you." She gently took her outside the room while everyone was laughing.

Lavaria raised a brow as Whiparella took her to the kitchen. The whip wielding woman let go of her partner and looked down at her.

"Lavaria, I'm worried." She spoke in honesty.

Lavaria blinked at her partner. But she looked away with a quiet sigh as she rubbed her arm.

"I'm worried as well, Whippy." She admitted. "But maybe this won't be as bad as we think. He might just teach Jestro basic magic like he did today."

"But what if it's worse than it seems? What if he makes Jestro do something he would never want to do? Something horrible?" Whiparella asked with growing worry.

Lavaria looked at Whiparella with an unsure look in her eyes. She was not really sure how to answer that. But she would not dare think of what Monstrox would do to their boy.

"I really don't know." She answered as honestly as she could. "But if he does do something to him, we'll make sure he pays for it."

Whiparella stopped looking at Lavaria with a worried expression and returned a brave and determined stare.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Mirror, Mirror**_

* * *

The next day, Monstrox waited in his office as Roberto went to go and bring Jestro up for the next lesson. The necromancer whistled as he took out a rather large book and dropped it on his desk beside the staff that Jestro was using along with his own staff. Monstrox planned today's lesson not to be easy, but not too hard. He turned his head as he heard the door open; seeing Roberto leading Jestro inside. Monstrox felt a grin coming on.

"So, Jestro." He walked over and bent down to the boys' level. "How are we today?"

Jestro played with his hood his he nodded.

"I'm good." He replied quietly.

Monstrox nodded as he stood back up.

"I think you're going to like what we're doing today." The necromancer walked over to his desk and picked up his own staff. "Tell me, Jestro. Do you like cooking?"

Jestro was not entirely sure where this was going or what it had to do with learning magic. But he did like to help Moltor and Flama in the kitchen sometimes. The boy just nodded a yes.

"Well today, you're oing to be doing something similar." Monstrox answered.

The necromancer faced his desk again and picked up the book. He walked back to Jestro and told him to hold out his arms; dropping the book into the boys' arms. Jestro kept his strength up; finding it hard to hold the large book.

"This is heavy." Jestro quietly complained. "It's a pretty fat book."

Monstrox raised a brow at the boy.

"It's not fat. It's just got big binding and lots of pages." The necromancer went along with Jestros' little remark before continuing. "If it's really that heavy for ya, put it on the ground and open it up."

Jestro quickly put the book down on the floor and opened its pages. The boy kneeled down as he looked through; tilting his head as he looked at all the images and noticing that they all had similar things on them. They all had pictures of magic items and how to make them.

"Wait, what're we doing?" Jestro asked; stretching his head in confusion.

Monstrox rolled his eyes the other way; not at all surprised that Jestro did not get it.

"Every magic user does this at least once in their life." Monstrox began to explain. "Inside of this book, the pages contain methods and recipes for items with magical properties. Each one different from the last."

Jestro began looking through the pages and its contents as Monstrox continued to explain.

"I want you to pick one the objects in the book and make it with the recipe written in. I will give the ingredients needed, but you will do the rest be your-"

"I wanna make this!"

Monstrox went wide eyed as Jestro interrupted him. The necromancer looked down as Jestro showed him the page with the item he wanted to make. Monstrox raised a brow as the boy had a rather eager smile on his face.

"That was quick." The necromancer thought to himself.

Roberto leaned against a wall as he watched the scene in front of him. Jestro pointed to a picture of a mirror on the page; making Monstrox raise his brow.

"The seeing mirror." He read the title of the object out loud. "An interesting choice for a nine year old to pick."

"I'm seven." Jestro corrected.

"I knew that."

Monstrox walked over to a cabinet in the corner of his office; opening it and taking out a numerous amount of items. Jestro walked over as the necromancer placed them on his desk and pulled up a stool for Jestro to use.

"Everything you need to make the mirror is right here." Monstrox picked up the book and placed it on the desk for Jestro to see. "Follow the instructions and you'll probably be done in two hours tops. I'll be standing right here watching you."

Roberto rolled his eyes the other way as went back to do his own thing. Jestro scratched his head as he read over the instructions; thoroughly reading the bit at the end about casting a spell. Monstrox watched as Jestro started putting the ingredients together. But the necromancer noticed that his eyelids were getting a bit heavy. He leaned his back against a wall as he blinked a few times; mentally scowling himself for barely getting any sleep last night. The necromancer did not think there would be any harm if he just took a brief nap. With that, he did.

* * *

"I'm done!"

Monstrox awoke with a jolt as he Jestro call out into his ear. The necromancer looked at the boy with bugged out eyes; slightly unnerved by the eager grin he had on his face. Roberto was watching from his work in progress.

"I'm finished! I made the mirror! Come see!" Jestro jumped up and down as he pointed at the desk.

Monstrox grunted as he got back up from his seat on the floor. The necromancer scratched his nose as he looked down at Jestros' project. The finishing product was a small hand held mirror. The metal rim around the glass was a rather dull grey colour and the glass was not reflective. Monstrox raised his brow before looking down at Jestro.

"You did everything the page said?" He questioned; knowing the boy did not do it properly.

"Yeah." Jestro answered back.

"You mixed the black seeds with the dragon tooth shavings?"

"Yeah."

"You left the reflection stone to dry after you coated it in sea monster spit?"

"Yeah."

Monstrox looked back and forth between the project and Jestro.

"Alright. But what about the incantation?" Monstrox finally asked.

Jestro stopped smiling and looked up at the necromancer with a confused face.

"Huh?" The boy muttered.

"The spell you had to use at the end?" Monstrox clarified. "The book says you have to do it or the object won't be able to do its thing."

Jestro looked at Monstrox with his eyes going wide. Monstrox blinked as the boy looked down at the floor and started making a weird noise. Roberto stopped working and looked at the scene about to unfold.

"Why are you making that noise?" Monstrox questioned.

Jestro looked up at Monstrox. The necromancer looked at the boy as his eyebrows went up; caught off guard by the teary eyes and the sniffling noises he was making. Jestro quickly put his hood over his head.

"I'm sorry, I'll do better! I'm sorry!"

Monstrox just scratched his head in confusion. Why was the kid crying?

"What's the matter?" Monstrox asked; not really sure what to do.

"I didn't mean to fail. Please don't turn me into a newt." Jestro begged as he quietly sobbed.

Monstrox was still confused until Roberto came up and spoke to him.

"I think he's upset because he knows he did it wrong." Roberto clarified.

Monstrox looked down at the panicking boy; still unsure of what to do. But he had to do something.

"Hey, calm down kiddo; you didn't fail at all." Monstrox bent down to Jestros' level.

Jestro looked up at Monstrox; still sobbing but holding back nervous tears.

"Huh?" He muttered with a squeak.

"You haven't failed. You just have to do one more thing then you're done." Monstrox tried to smile as he reassured the boy.

Roberto watched with growing interest as Jestro began to calm down. The boy pulled his hood back and wiped away his snot and tears.

"Just one more thing?" Jestro repeated in question.

"Yeah, that's right." Monstrox gently lead Jestro back to the table and giving the boy his star staff. "Just repeat what the page says at the end and you'll be all done."

As Jestro looked over the incantation, Roberto quickly ran for cover; afraid of what happened last time he was within range of Jestro casting a spell. Monstrox loomed over the boy as he held his staff over the unfinished object and began reciting the words on the page.

"Crafted from stones of the earth, and borrowed from the souls of forgotten creatures, I called upon the forces of magic of all, to see all near and far"

As Jestro recited and repeated the words, a bright yellow and purple aura emulated from his staff. Monstrox watched as the object began to glow. Both the necromancer and the boy covered their eyes as the light blinded them. Roberto stayed behind his statue as the light dimmed down and faded. Jestro and Monstrox opened their eyes and stared the finished object. Lying on the table, there was a mirror with a simplistic white handle and rim around the reflective glass. Monstrox smiled a little as Jest picked up the mirror and looked into it. The boy smiled as he saw himself and the necromancer.

"I did it!" He jumped excitedly.

"Hang on, kiddo." Monstrox put his hand on the boys shoulder. "You gotta make sure it works. Ask it to show you something."

Jestro blinked at the necromancer before turning back to the mirror. He scratched his head as he tried to think of something.

"Ummm. Mirror..."

Jestro smiled as he thought of something. Roberto looked from behind his statue and watched.

"Show me ice cream!"

The boy and the necromancer took a step back as the mirror glowed and their reflections turned into something. Jestro watched in amazement as the mirror turned into a window. But it was not what they expected. The mirror showed Flama in the kitchen going through the freezer. The hotheaded man smiled as he took out a tub of chocolate chip ice cream; grabbing a spoon and digging into the cold confection. Jestro giggled a bit while Monstrox raised a brow at the sight.

"That's funny." Jestro giggled as Roberto came over to look.

Monstrox rolled his eyes the other way and took the mirror from Jestro; making the boy look up at him.

"I just wanna try something." The necromancer reassured before looking in the mirror. "Show me the royal family."

Monstrox watched as the image changed to a husband and a wife playing with their young daughter. Jestro stood on his toes as he heard cheerful laughter coming from the mirror. He could just see the family in the image; able to make out their appearances. The husband was an average built man with a red beard and hair. The wife seemed a bit strong under the fancy dress she was wearing; her dark brown hair tied in a braid across the back of her head. The daughter looked around Jestros' age. She was laughing triumphantly as she played with a wooden toy mace and a wooden toy shield with a dragon head painted on it; her long red hair bouncing in the air as she ran around. Jestro watched in growing while Monstrox and Roberto stared with disgust.

"Who're they?" Jestro asked.

Monstrox and Roberto looked down at the boy.

"They are our enemies, Jestro." Monstrox answered simply. "They have something that we don't and they deny it to us."

"They know nothing of true art!" Roberto blurted out; making Monstrox push him back.

Jestro looked at the pair with confusion.

"They don't look bad." He replied innocently.

"But looks can be deceiving, Jestro." Monstrox continued. "No one is as they seem. They may look like a happy family. Laughing and playing all they like. But deep down, they are monstrous dictators. They are the reason why I'm training you, Jestro. Because one day, we are going to take the throne from them and take back what is ours."

Jestro stared at Monstrox as he tried to process what he just said. The boy played with his sleeves as he looked down at the floor and gently kicked it.

"Can I show everybody the mirror?" Jestro asked in a meek tone.

Roberto raised a brow at Monstrox as he thought about it. The necromancer remembered the one rule he made for Jestro. He was not allowed to tell anyone about the lessons what would happen in them. But Monstrox thought he could make one exception.

"Alright."

Monstrox held the mirror down and pointed the handle at Jestro; silently telling him to take it. Jestro smiled as he took the mirror and ran out of the room with excitable giggles. Roberto watched as Monstrox walked to the door and closed it. The sculptor put his hands to his hips; having questions about what just happened.

"Why would you want to take back the throne?" Roberto questioned; making Monstrox roll his eyes with a grimace. "You never owned it in the first place."

"I know that, Mr literal." Monstrox turned and faced the sculptor. "I was just trying to tell Jestro what the big picture is and what all his training is leading up to. You have a problem with those royals too, remember? They threw you out on your butt."

As Monstrox stopped talking, he noticed that Roberto was giving him a weird look.

"What?" The necromancer asked.

"I couldn't help but notice that you had this look in your eyes when the little jester boy finished his task." The artist began to explain. "You had a look of pride."

Roberto crossed his arms and raised his brow at the necromancer.

"It almost seems as if you're getting attached to him, no?"

Monstrox looked at Roberto like he was insane. Monstrox did not say it; about how happy Jestro looked when he made the enchanted mirror. The sight did make him feel something. Something that felt different and better from bitter anger or vengeance. Could it have been pride. Or even...

No. Monstrox yelled in his mind not to think of anything like that. Jestro was just his (Insurance policy)apprentice and that was it. Monstrox gave Roberto a hard stare.

"Get back to work." He ordered.

Roberto growled a little before doing his orders; leaving him to go back to his work and Monstrox went to make plans for the next lesson. And the next, and the next, and the next.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Curses_**

* * *

For the next few months, Jestro kept having lessons with Monstrox. Lavaria and Whiparella calmed down as they realised that Jestro was completely fine. And with his eighth birthday(or founding day) around the corner, there was no time for worrying. Jestro was actually enjoying his magic lessons with Monstrox. Even though he was actually fine, Whiparella and Lavaria had to make sure by using the mirror to watch what was happening. The pair were relieved that nothing terrible was happening; through they did get a bit irritated when Monstrox made rude and crude remarks about certain things in front of Jestro. Jestro learned how to mix potions, make objects disappear and reappear, conjuring up animals out of nowhere(Jestro could only conjure up bunnies), and even teleporting from one place to another. Monstrox had something big planned for today's lesson. But Roberto knew it was going to be bad for Jestro. Very bad.

Whiparella watched Jestro as he finished eating his breakfast. A nice bowl of coca crunch with chopped up strawberries. Lavaria walked in and sat beside Whiparella; smiling as she took her hand to hold it. Jestro wiped his mouth with a napkin as he finished his cereal; jumping out of his chair and smiling at the pair.

"Thanks for the breakfast." The boy thanked kindly.

"Glad you liked it, little jokester." Lavaria smiled back at him. "Do you know what master is teaching you today?"

"No. But he said it's really going to test my skills in magic."

Lavaria and Whiparella looked at each other with questionable looks.

"He's going to give test you?" Whiparella asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"I think so." Jestro shrugged; unaware of his carers concern.

Before the pair could ask any more questions, Roberto entered the dining room. Everyone knew what he was here for. Jestro ran up to Lavaria and Whiparella; pulling them into a hug with his little arms.

"See you later." He smiled before leaving with Roberto.

Whiparella and Lavaria watched as Jestro left the room. But noticed that Roberto looked a bit worried and tired. The whip wielding woman turned to her partner and gave her a knowing but stern look. Lavaria nodded before she got out of her seat and walked to the cupboard. She opened the drawer; reaching in and taking out the enchanted mirror. Whiparella watched anxiously as Lavaria sat back down at the table. Before they could say the words to activate it, the men walked in.

"Whatcha you two doing?" Flama asked.

Whiparella and Lavaria looked up to see Moltor and Flama smiling at them. Magmar, Burnzie, Sparkks, Beast Master, his two dogs and Book keeper followed in to see what was happening.

"We're going to spy on the boss." Lavaria admitted in a straight forward explanation.

Burnzie and Sparkks stared before giving each other nervous looks.

"That doesn't sound safe or loyal." Sparkks spoke with uncertainty.

"But it sounds like fun." Flama politely disagreed with a grin.

"Can we watch too?" Beast Master asked.

Lavaria was not sure about it, but Whiparella welcomed it.

"Just try to be quiet though." She advised.

Book keeper gave Whiparella and Lavaria thumbs up while everyone else nodded a yes. Everyone huddled around the pair as Lavaria looked into the mirror and spoke the words.

"Show us Jestro."

As everyone watched the mirror as it showed them the youngest member of their family, Roberto looked towards the office of his master while Jestro innocently followed him like a puppy. Roberto had a rather nervous look on his face that Jestro or his peers could not see. The sculptor hesitated as he opened the door to Monstroxs' office; letting the boy go past through. Jestro stopped and stood as Monstrox turned from his desk and looked at him with an eager smile.

"Looking forward to today's lesson, Joke boy?" The necromancer asked as he leaned down to the boys' level.

"Yeah yeah!" Jestro jumped up and down excitedly.

Roberto quickly went back to his work as his insides turned cold; knowing something heart wrenching was going to happen. The gang watched the mirror as they Monstrox chuckling rather devilishly.

"Well, you should be." Monstrox replied back. "Because today I'm going to teach you how to do something that is quite difficult to do."

Jestro jumped up and down as he quietly squealed with excitement.

"Are you going to teach me how to turn water into chocolate milk?" The boy asked with a big grin.

"Oh no, no; we're doing something a little harder than that." Monstrox answered, as he walked over to his desk. "And it involves using these."

Jestro watched curiously as Monstrox picked something up from his desk. The gang all watched in suspense as well. Monstrox turned around with something in his hands. Jestro gasped and covered his mouth when he saw the necromancer holding two fluffy white bunnies. The boy smiled at the small creatures.

"They're so cute." He whispered as he reached out to pat one of them.

Monstrox took one bunny away from Jestros' reach; making him look up with a confused face.

"You wanna see something cool?" The necromancer asked with a grin.

Jestro nodded in response. The gang watched the mirror and Roberto watched from his work in progress as Monstrox picked up his staff. The necromancer placed the bunny in a basket on the floor and pointed his staff at it. Jestro watched in confusion as Monstrox began to say some strange words.

"Usque ad annum deinde creatura maledic!"

The gang watched with wide eyes as a black aura emulated from Monstroxs' staff. Jestro took a step back with his eyes going wide while Roberto hid behind his work in progress. Everyone covered their eyes as a sudden burst of grey light exploded in the room; making the bunny make a distressed sound. When the light disappeared, everyone opened their eyes again. But the gang and Roberto gasped in shock when they saw what happened.

Jestro stared with wide eyes at the bunny. But it was no longer a bunny. Jestro was staring at some small wing lizard creature. The white fluffy fur turned into rough green scales and the cute cotton tail turned into a spiked dagger like tail. The cute little eyes tuned into big yellow monster eyes. Jestro looked up in shook as Monstrox grinned and chuckled.

"What did you do?" He questioned; stepping back in fear.

"I used my specialty on it." Monstrox smiled at the monster he made. "I cursed it."

Roberto listened to the noise in the room; turning to tune out the horror that was about to take place. Jestro looked on in fear as Monstrox took his star staff and handed it to him. Monstrox held out his left arm and lifted the sleeve of his robe. He was wearing a weird looking bracelet that had several charms attached to it; all of them having odd and frightening markings on them.

"My staff amplifies my power, but this is the source of it."

The necromancer took the bracelet off and looked down at Jestro.

"Put it on."

The gang and Roberto felt their insides go numb as Jestro backed away from Monstrox. The boy shook his head no as the necromancer walked him into a corner.

"No, I can't." Jestro objected. "I can't do that! It's not right!"

"But if you want to be a powerful magic user, you need to be able to inflect curses." Monstrox remained calm as he spoke.

"But the bunny didn't do anything wrong!"

"Right and wrong doesn't really matter, kid."

Jestro looked up at Monstrox as tears started to emerge. The boy continued to object.

"No, I won't! I won't!" Jestro shouted tearfully.

Roberto tugged the fabric against his chest as he heard Jestro cry out against his master. The gang all watched with wide and fearful eyes as Monstrox shook his head and sighed.

"I really didn't want it to come to this." Monstrox put the bracelet back on his wrist.

The gang watched in horror as Monstrox grabbed Jestro by his wrist. Roberto closed his eyes as Jestro begged the necromancer to let him go. But the boy went still and watched with wide teary eyes when he saw the skin of his hand changing colour. The gang all watched in horror until Moltor banged his fist against the dining room table.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" He shouted before running out the room.

Everyone chased after Moltor as he made his way up the stairs to Monstroxs' chambers while Jestro started to panic as he felt a zapping sensation in his left hand; watching it turn blue.

"I don't wanna hurt you, kid. But I won't hesitate to take action when you disobey me." Monstrox warned. "If I don't let go of you in the next two minutes and thirty seconds, you will be turned into a monster for the rest of your life. If you do as I say, I will let you go. So what's it gonna be?"

Monstrox and Roberto looked up when they heard a loud bang against the door; the sound of his disciples shouting to open the door. Roberto hesitantly looked from his statue when he heard Jestro cry some more. Jestro tried to break away from Monstroxs' grip. But the necromancer was not going to let go. Jestro heard Moltor punch the door. But he knew he was not going to break it down in time. Jestro looked up at the stern necromancer as tears poured down.

"I'll do what you want, please let me go!" The boy begged with a sob.

Within a few seconds, Monstrox let go of Jestros' wrist. The boy held his wrist as his skin changed back to its normal tone. Roberto still tugged at his chest as the banging on the door grew louder. He watched Jestro cry out more quiet sobs as Monstrox took his bracelet off and put it on Jestros' wrist with a rather blank stare.

"What're you waiting for?" Monstrox asked rhetorically; holding the unchanged bunny in front of Jestro.

Jestro watched as Monstrox put the bunny in the basket after the lizard creature flew out the window. The necromancer stepped aside as he waited for the boy to act. The tears continued to fall out of Jestros eyes as he still heard the gang banging on the door; hearing Burnzie saying he was going to break it down. Roberto quickly went back behind his statue as Jestro hesitantly pointed his staff at the basket. Monstrox went wide eyed as a dark red and purple aura formed around the boys' staff and the bracelet. The gang finally broke down the door, but it was too late.

Everyone covered their eyes as a massive light blinded them. When the light faded away, everyone looked forward to see what happened. Lavaria, Whiparella and the gang all stared with shocked faces of horror when they saw the lizard creature crawl out of the basket. Monstrox had a proud but sadistic look in his eyes while Roberto watched with his fear growing immensely. But Jestro...

Jestro threw his staff and the bracelet to the floor before he let out a horrified and tearful scream; crying as he ran past the grownups and out of the room. When Jestro was out of their sights, the gang turned their attention to Monstrox with mixed emotions.

"Flama, go find Jestro and make sure he's alright." Magmar ordered; Flama nodding and running off to find the traumatised boy.

Lavaria and Whiparella stepped forward as they both gave Monstrox looks that could kill.

"What did you do!?" Lavaria got straight to business.

Monstrox just stared and smiled at them like nothing happened.

"I just witnessed my apprentice use the most powerful form of necromancy." He sat down in his chair with his staff in his hand.

"You scared him for life is what you did!" Beast master shouted out in response; getting agreements from everyone.

Monstrox stopped smiling and raised a brow at his disciples.

"Are you all going to against me just because I taught the boy a lesson?" He stood up; towering over half the group.

Roberto watched with wide eyes as Moltor growled and clutched his fists.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE A SCUMBAG!" Moltor shouted with an enraged roar.

Everyone watched as Moltor charged at Monstrox with his fists held high. But Monstrox was having none of it.

"Shocking scare!"

Moltor could not stop as Monstrox pointed his staff and blasted a spell at him. Everyone gasped as Moltor froze with wide eyes. The tough man looked up at Monstrox and started screaming. He pushed everyone out of his way as he ran out of the room; blinded by fear. Everyone looked at the necromancer with expressions of angry and fear.

"You all better watch what you say to me." Monstrox warned. "If you really care about Jestro, you'll stay out of our business. Or else I'll use all my forbidden powers on him. Got it?"

Roberto looked away in shame as everyone just stared at Monstrox with killer stares. The necromancer stared back before he had enough.

"The kid can have a break for the next three weeks." He spoke unemotionally before raising his voice. "Now get out of here!"

Whiparella and Lavaria turned around to leave, Beast master and his two dogs growled at Monstrox while Book Keeper gave him a rude hand gesture. Magmar, Burnzie and Sparkks just stared at him as they left to go find Jestro and Moltor. The gang went back down stairs to find Flama, Jestro and Moltor in the living room. Moltor was rubbing his head with a dull groan while Flama held a sobbing Jestro close to him against his shirt. Whiparella quickly ran over to check on him while everyone else followed.

"Is he ok?" Lavaria questioned in worry.

"Boss must've scared him out of his wits. He can't stop crying." Flama informed as Jestro continued to sob.

Magmar looked towards Moltor.

"You really need to look before you punch, Moltor." The general remarked.

"What was I supposed to do; the kid was screaming for help." Moltor argued; cured of the influence of Monstroxs' attack.

Everyone turned their attention back to Jestro when they heard him quiet down. The boy slowly turned his head out of the comfort of Flamas' shirt; showing his face red and wet with tears. Everyone felt their heart sink as he looked up at them and sniffed.

"The bunny didn't do anything wrong." He said as he held in more sobs.

Everyone watched as Jestro turned back to crying in Flamas' shirt as he kept repeating those words.

"The bunny didn't do anything wrong."


	9. Chapter 9

_**The Knight**_

* * *

The next few days were quiet. Too quiet. Jestro was too quiet. Jestros' eighth birthday did not go as everyone pictured. The past ones were always fun, loud and happy. This year, it was just quiet, dull and depressing. Jestro did not smile like he usually did. When Flama and Moltor put the chocolate mud cake that they made in front of him, he just blew out the candles without any excitement in his eyes. The only times he spoke were when he would say thank you or when he asked for something. Whiparella made a new and bigger set of clothes for him to grow into that were similar to his old ones, but he barely reacted to it. He just thanked Whiparella and wore it for the next few days. Jestro had been doing everything he could to stay away from Monstrox. After what happened, the boy could not even look at the necromancer without going pale and wide eyed. Roberto had been trying to avoid the gang as well; noticing that they have been giving him rather strange and irritated looks and stares.

One morning after breakfast, everyone was in the living room; trying to relax and do their own little things. Lavaria was polishing her two favourite knives, Moltor was polishing his favourite brass knuckles, Flama, Book keeper, Beast Master and Burnzie and Sparkks were playing a game of poker and Magmar was fixing up his ponytail. Whiparella held Jestros' old hood in her hands. She looked over to a corner of the room to see Jestro sitting on the floor with Muffin and Poopsie. The two dogs were sleeping while Jestro was just looking down at the floor. Whiparella looked back at the hood in her hands and sighed. The whip wielder got up out of her seat and made her way over to Jestro. Everyone noticed and watched as she kneeled down in front of his.

"Jestro, dear?" She spoke gently to him.

Jestro did not look up at her.

"Are you feeling alright today?" She asked.

Jestro still did not look up. But he slowly shook his head. Whiparella frowned a little before speaking again.

"Lavaria and I were going to town this afternoon to get supplies." She smiled a bit as she spoke. "Do you want to come?"

Jestro looked up at Whiparella; blinking at her with tired eyes. He thought about it for a moment before nodding a yes.

That afternoon, Lavaria and Whiparella took Jestro out for the afternoon to cheer him up. When they got to the town market, Lavaria bought some food to bring back. She did not want to steal in front of Jestro; already having Monstrox being a bad influence on him. Whiparella got some sewing supplies and she even brought some candy for Jestro. When they finished getting what they needed, they met up near the entrance of the market. Jestro noticed that a lot of people were appearing.

"Did you have fun, Jestro?" Lavaria asked; giving him two bags of groceries light enough for him to carry.

Jestro just nodded with a blank face. Whiparella sighed quietly. She hopped that an afternoon out of the castle would cheer him up. But perhaps it would take more time.

"Come on. Let's get back." Lavaria spoke gently to her peers.

Lavaria, Whiparella and Jestro began making their way out of time. But the people were crowding around then; making it hard to go forward. Jestro tried to stay close to his carers, but the people around him were getting in his way and blocking his view. The boy started breathing heavily when he lost sight of Lavaria and Whiparella; only seeing strangers. Jestro ran another way as he started panicking; trying to get to a less crowded place. Jestro made it out of the crowd, but he fell over his own leg and tripped. With a squeak, he dropped the two bags of food and fell to the dirt. With a quiet moan, he lifted himself up to his knees and rubbed his eyes. He opened them again to see Lavarias' supplies lying on the ground.

"Oh, no." He muttered with a squeak.

Jestro buried his face in his hands; feeling panic rising in him.

"Are you okay?"

Jestro jumped and looked up. He froze when he saw a boy around his age looking down at him with a concerned face. Jestro stared at the boy; looking at his standing brunette hair and his blue eyes. He was also wearing what looked like armour with a blue and white crest in the shape of an eagle. The boy blinked at Jestro before leaning forward.

"Would you like me to help you?" He asked.

Jestro could not get any words out. He could look back and forth between the boy and dropped groceries. He could only nod. The boy helped Jestro pick up his groceries and put them back in the two bags he had. Jestro filled one bag up while the boy filled up the other. The boy stood up with the bag as Jestro quickly got up. The boy was about to give him his bag back.

"Here you go." He smiled as he held out the bag.

Jestro took the bag and held them both in his arms. He looked down at the ground as his pale cheeks turned bright red.

"Thank you." He said quietly.

The boy gave Jestro a friendly smile before speaking again.

"I'm Clay." He introduced himself. "What's your name?"

Jestro looked up at Clay; cheeks still red. He was about to say something.

"Sweetheart! Where are you?!"

Whiparellas' voice called out. Jestro looked in the direction of the voice. She sounded like she was panicking.

"Coming, Whippy!" He called back.

Jestro looked at Clay briefly before running off with his bags of groceries. He did not look back as he ran to Whiparella and Lavaria. He found them near a building; running up at them as they ran to him.

"Where'd you go?!" Lavaria questioned as Whiparella hugged Jestro tightly.

"I got lost. I'm sorry." Jestro apologised.

"Don't apologise, dear; it's not your fault." Whiparella took a bag from Jestro and held his hand. "Let's go home."

The trio made their way out of town and began their trek through the forest and back to the castle. As they walked through the forest, they noticed that it began to lightly snow. Jestro looked up at the white powder slowly falling on top of them. Lavaria looked over at him; noticing how deep in thought he seemed.

"Everything okay, Jestro?" She asked.

Jestro looked up at Lavaria and nodded quickly. But he looked back to the ground again. He kept thinking about the boy that helped him. Clay. The name repeated itself in Jestros' head and the image of his friendly smile froze on his mind. He looked up at Whiparella and Lavaria again.

"Can I tell you guys something?" Jestro asked.

"You can tell us anything, Jestro." Whiparella answered with a smile.

Jestro thought about what he was going to say.

"I met someone when I got lost."

Lavaria and Whiparella stopped in the tracks and looked down at their boy. Lavaria raised a brow in concern.

"What do you mean?" Whiparella asked.

The pair grew worried when Jestro had trouble answering.

"I tripped and dropped the food. But a boy dressed like a Knight helped me."

Lavaria and Whiparella loosened up when they realised that Jestro was talking about another kid. They watched with wide eyes when he looked up at them smiling.

"He was really nice to me."

Lavaria smiled and hugged the boy tightly

"There's the Jestro we know." She nuzzled his cheek; getting a giggle out of him.

Whiparella smiled as she bent down and ruffled up his hair; happy to see him happy. The trio continued their way back to the castle; asking Jestro if he could tell them more about the boy from town when they got back. As the trio made it across the bridge and to the front door, they heard odd noises coming from inside. Lavaria raised a brow when she heard what she thought was Moltor yelling. And someone screaming with Italian words. Whiparella held Jestros' hand as Lavaria opened the door to see the men gathered around what was making the commotion.

"PLEASE PUT ME DOWN!"

The trio heard a high voice with an Italian accent. Lavaria moved closer to see.

"What's going on here!?" She shouted out; getting their attention.

All the men turned to look at the returning trio. They went wide eyed when Burnzie turned around, because he was holding Roberto upside down from his leg. Jestro and Whiparella gave the giant man freaked out looks. Roberto put his hands together in a beggar fashion.

"Please help me, Signorina Lavaria." The sculptor begged.

Lavaria gave her comrades hard looks.

"What are you all doing?!" She questioned harshly.

Magmar looked at the others with a rather nerve racked face. Flama and Moltor stepped forward.

"We wanna tell you." Moltor started. "But..."

"It's not something a child should hear." Flama finished.

Lavaria got the hint and asked Whiparella to take Jestro out of the room.

"Come on, dear. We can go through the things we bought." Whiparella lead Jestro up the stairs to the women's quarters.

Lavaria turned back to the men; expecting an answer to why they were acting like cavemen towards Roberto.

"Alright, Arnoldi." Magmar called the sculptor by surname. "Tell Lavaria what you told us."

"Or I'll make my babies eat you!" Beast Master threatened, making Muffin and Poopsie growl at him.

Lavaria raised a brow as Roberto drew a cross on his chest with his finger. The sculptor looked Lavaria in the eye as he began to explain.

"I really do care about what happens to little Jestro; I really do!" Roberto shuddered as he spoke. "But Monstrox made me swear to secrecy!"

"Just talk already!" Sparkks grabbed him and swung him around.

Roberto held his head as he tried not to get dizzy. He continued to explain.

"What I am about to tell you may put Jestro in danger." He warned.

Lavaria blinked at the sculptor.

"What do you mean by danger?" She questioned.

"Let me finish. Monstrox is not training Jestro so he can be his successor. It's something terrible."

The gang listened as Roberto struggled to get it out; clearly upset by what he was about to say.

"Monstrox told me that when he takes over the kingdom... He's going to transfer his soul into Jestro and use him as a vessel so he can be young again."

Everyone looked at Roberto like he was insane. Burnzie was so shocked that he accidentally dropped the sculptor on the floor; making him let out a squeaky ompf noise. Moltor narrowed his eyebrow before he picked Roberto up by his collar and looked at him straight in the eye. Everyone watched as Moltor gave him the most horrific stare in existence.

"Are you saying that old bunny cursing scumbag is GOING TO USE THE KID AS SOME KIND OF SOUL JAR!?" The tough twin yelled at the sculptor in question.

"He can't do that!" Burnzie and Sparkks said at the same time.

"But he won't do it yet! He's going to do it after he takes over the kingdom, which probably won't be for another five or ten years." Roberto explained out of fear of Moltor punching him.

Moltor growled at Roberto like an angry dog. But book keeper tugged at his shirt and made him look down; silently asking him to calm down and stop. Moltor stared at the short man as he calmed himself. He finally loosened up and let Roberto go. Magmar came up to the sculptor and gave him a warning.

"You make sure that Master stays away from Jestro." The general warned. "I may be his general. But I know when not to cross the line. Don't make us warn you again."

"Just don't let Monstrox know that I told you this." Roberto warned back. "He'll go berserk like my nonna when there's a mouse in the house eating her bread-"

"Just go back to your job and keep Monstrox busy." Flama pointed up the stairs.

Roberto fell silent before doing what Flama was implying. The sculptor ran up the stairs and left the gang to their own devices. Everyone was at loss. Magmar rubbed his head in frustration.

"I can't believe this." Beast master worried; patting his pets for comfort.

"I feel like this is my fault." Moltor admitted in regret. "I should've kept my mouth shut about that thing that happened at the market."

"That jerk would've found out eventually, bro." Flama put a hand on his brothers' shoulder.

Book keeper looked up at Lavaria; seeing her panicking as tears began to emerge.

"How am I going to break this to Whiparella?" She questioned in her head.

* * *

Later after everyone had dinner, it was time for bed. Jestro ran around the room in his red and purple pyjamas as he told Whiparella and Lavaria about his day.

"I was scared when I got lost from you two." He recalled from earlier from today. "Then I fell over, but Clay helped me."

Whiparella smiled at the smile on Jestros' face when he talked about the boy called Clay.

"He was wearing armour; like a knight!" Jestro explained as he jumped and sat down on his bed. "And he looked really pretty too. I bet he's going to be a real knight when he grows up; like how I'm going to be a wizard."

Lavaria felt her insides go cold. She did not tell Whiparella about what Roberto told her and the others. But she was terrified of the thought of what would happen to Jestro if she did not. All she could do right know was smile and listen to her boy as he happily reminisced. Whiparella laughed a bit as she tucked him into bed.

"From the way you talk about him, it sounds like you have a crush on this knight." She teased playfully.

Jestro gave Whiparella a confused look.

"I don't wanna crush anybody. That sounds like it hurts." He said with a raised brow.

Lavaria giggled a little.

"It's not like that, joker." She clarified. "When you have a crush on someone, it usually means you like them in a way."

"What kind of way?"

Whiparella moved a bit of hair out of his face and kissed him on the forehead.

"We'll tell you when you're older." She promised. "Now it's time for bed."

Jestro just shrugged and smiled before lying back and curling up into his sheets and blankets. As Whiparella got into the bed that she and Lavaria shared together, Lavaria kept thinking about the horrible things she heard today; feeling like she knew the world was ending.

"Coming to bed, Lavy?"

Lavaria looked up from her deep and dark thoughts to see Whiparella playfully begging her to come to bed. The sneaky woman nodded before she turned off the light of the room and climbed into bed with her partner. Whiparella pulled the blanket over the two of them; keeping them warm from the cold outside.

"I hear it's going to snow pretty soon." Lavaria muttered; looking towards the window.

"That's lovely." Whiparella replied as she yawned. "I love it when it snows."

Lavaria felt a slight chill go up her spine as Whiparella wrapped her arms around her and pulled her in; holding her gently.

"We'll make snowmen and snow angels when it comes." She muttered as she fell asleep.

Lavaria would usually find comfort in Whiparellas' embrace. But she could not stop thinking about what would become of Jestro. Roberto did say that Monstrox was not going to do anything yet. Maybe she could do something that would involve getting her boy away from the castle and away from Monstroxs' grip. She closed her eyes as she reassured herself of that. She did not know that Roberto was not lying. But he was wrong.


	10. Chapter 10

_**The Curse**_

* * *

Whiparella and Lavaria were rudely awoken by a loud continuous knock on their door. They looked out the window to see what time of day it was. It was still dark out. Lavaria groaned as she stumbled out of bed while Jestro sat up with a tired yawn. Whiparella watched as Lavaria opened the door.

"What?" The sneaky woman growled in a grouchy tone.

Lavaria fell silent when she saw Beast master standing there. He had a worried and scared look on his face; fidgeting with the straps on his chest.

"Beasty? What's wrong?" Lavaria asked as she rubbed her eye.

"The boss wants everyone up and dressed. He wants everyone downstairs ASAP."

Whiparella turned around as she heard Beast master speak. Lavaria blinked in confusion.

"Why?" She asked.

"I don't know. But he looked mad. And he said bring Jestro." Beast Master answered before running off.

Lavaria went wide eyed when she heard him say bring Jestro. She looked back as Whiparella got their boy out of bed. What was Monstrox mad about, and what did Jestro have to do with it? She nervously swallowed a mouthful of her saliva as she turned to the pair.

"Beast Master says we're having a meeting." Lavaria said before telling them to get dressed.

Jestro blinked in confusion as Lavaria and Whiparella held his hands and led him downstairs. He was still a bit tired from waking up so early, but he knew what was happening around him. Everyone was downstairs; talking amongst themselves and having no idea why Monstrox wanted them up so early. Whiparella walked up to the twins.

"What's going on?" She questioned, getting their attention.

"Heck if I know." Moltor answered with a shrug.

"I didn't even have time to brush my hair." Flama added with an irritated growl.

Book keeper laughed when he noticed that Flamas' hair was more wild than usual. But that laughter quickly disappeared when they heard the sound of a door slamming open. Everyone looked to the top of the staircase to see Monstrox coming out of the giant doorway; the one no one ever used or opened. Jestro hid behind Lavaria when he thought the necromancer was looking at him. Roberto felt a drop of sweat go down his forehead when Monstrox gave the group a malicious grin and held up his staff.

"Good morning to all of you, my loyal disciples." He greeted in a rather cheery tone despite everyone else being tired and grouchy. "I know it's a bit early for most of you. But do any of you know why you are here?"

Everyone stayed silent as they knew Monstrox was still going to talk.

"Quite a few reasons. Some of you were just teenagers when you joined the cause. Some of you, I found you homeless and took you in out of sympathy. Or I just came up to you and said, hey wanna help me overthrow the government."

The necromancer laughed as he remembered. Everyone else just gave each other weird looks. Magmar stepped forward.

"Master? What exactly is this all about?" The general questioned.

Monstrox grinned before turning to the doorway.

"Come and I'll show you." He spoke with a snicker.

Jestro kept a tight grip on Lavaria as everyone hesitantly followed Monstrox into the large doorway. Whiparella held Lavarias' hand as she felt fear growing in her stomach. Monstrox lead the group into a giant dark room and told them to stop. The necromancer turned and held his staff high above his head.

"BEHOLD! The dark arena." He announced dramatically.

Moltor raised a brow before turning to his brother.

"Didn't put much thought into a name, did he." He whispered in mockery.

Flama nodded in agreement until everyone felt rumbling beneath them. Everyone watched in shock as Lava began to pour down from the walls and filled up a giant pit in the middle of the arena. But Jestro was scared of something else. He held onto Lavaria as the light created by the hot lava revealed what looked like an army of monstrous looking stone statues. Big ones, little ones, winged ones and all kinds of nasty ones in between. Monstrox grinned as he looked at everyone's fearful faces.

"I most congratulate you on your work, Roberto." He spoke as he fidgeted with his staff.

Everyone stared at the artist with confused faces. The sculptor bit his lip nervously. Monstrox held his staff high above his head as electrical sparks came out of it.

"Because today, we will make history!"

Long and large lightning bolts blasted out of the necromancers' staff and hit the stone statues. Everyone backed off when one of the statues started moving. Then another one; then all the rest. As Monstrox began to laugh manically, the now living statues growled and roared like ferocious animals; making everyone hold onto each other for protection. Lavaria knew what was happening. She grabbed Roberto and pulled his collar; glaring at him with furious intent.

"You said he wasn't going to do anything for five more years!" She yelled at him.

"I really told you the truth, but he changed his mind last night!" Roberto said in complete honesty.

Monstrox stepped forward towards his peers; holding his staff with an iron grip. Jestro watched as the necromancer smiled in devilish delight.

"Soon, it will be the time for our attack." He announced loud enough for all to hear. "Soon, we will march down to Knighton, storm the castle and take it for ourselves! And anyone is not with us will be against us! Anyone who gets in our way will either be made as a slave or they will he eliminated! Their choice."

Jestro watched as the stone creatures laughed and cheered upon Monstrox and his speech. Jestro tried to process what Monstrox really meant. Anyone who does not do as he says will get hurt. Anyone... including...

Jestro went wide eyed when he realised that Clay was going to be one of the people who would get hurt because of this. Jestro let go of Lavaria and ran up front. Whiparella tried to stop him, but he was too fast. Jestro stopped and stared up at Monstrox.

"You can't do this!"

Monstrox stopped smiling and looked down at the boy as his monsters stopped laughing. The gang and Roberto watched with fear as Jestro stood his ground. Monstrox tilted his head to the side as he looked down at the child.

"What are you doing?" He raised a brow at the boy.

"This isn't right! You can't take over the kingdom and hurt people! They never did anything to you!" Jestro shouted as loud as he could. "I won't let you!"

The gang watched with fear for Jestro as Monstrox just stared at him. But the necromancer started smiling. Then he started laughing. Jestro watched in confusion as the stone creatures began to laugh as well. Monstrox looked down at the boy with a mean and sadistic stare.

"You won't let me!?" He continued to laugh. "How're you gonna stop me!? By making me float!? What're you gonna do, joke boy?!"

Jestro clutched his fists as Monstrox and the stone monsters continued to laugh at him. The sound was deafening to him. Unable to take it anymore, Jestro snatched Monstroxs' staff in a quick and forceful motion. Monstrox stopped laughing and went wide eyed as Jestro held the staff over his knee.

"Hey!"

Monstrox tried to grab it, but it was too late. Jestro slammed the staff over his knee; creating a blast that made everyone cover their eyes to avoid being blinded. When the blast cleared everyone looked back to the middle and gasped in shock.

Jestro was standing over the two broken pieces of the staff. Monstrox was still as he looked at the one thing that made him powerful; broken in two separate pieces. But his face soon twisted into a glare of pure unbridled rage. Jestro quickly noticed, but he could not run away before Monstrox grabbed him by his hood and lifted him off the ground.

"YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BRAT!" Monstrox shouted as he threw the boy to the floor.

The gang all gasped in horror as Jestro let a pained noise when he hit the hard floor. They ran forward, but a group of stone monsters stopped them and blocked them from going forward.

Jestro looked up at Monstrox as he towered over him and pointed to the broken staff on the floor.

"You've ruined everything!" The necromancer snarled as he looked down at the boy with disgust and hate in his voice.

Jestro tried to back away from the necromancer as he stepped forward. Roberto watched with regret as a terrible scene was about to unfold. The gang all struggled against the monsters as they shouted and yelled for Monstrox to leave Jestro alone. Jestro began to cry in fear as Monstrox towered over him.

"I, I couldn't let you." Jestro shuddered and quivered. "I couldn't let you hurt him."

Monstrox stared at Jestro as his eyes started glowing red and yellow.

"You ruined the plan for someone?" He questioned. "Who!?

Jestro did not respond. He was not going to tell the necromancer about Clay.

"WHO!?" Monstrox raised his voice.

Jestro stayed silent as more fear induced tears fell from his eyes. Monstrox looked down at his apprentice and shook his head in disappointment.

"After all these months." He started circling around Jestro. "After all these months I spent training you so you could take my place when I'm gone. I tried to help you reach your full potential, but you just mess up the whole plan. Why? Because you have morals? I don't think that's it."

Monstrox grabbed Jestro by his collar and lifted him off the ground. Lavaria and the gang all struggled against the stone monsters; yelling and screaming at their master while Roberto watched in stunned silence. Jestro watched in fear as Monstrox stared at him with his glowing yellow and red eyes.

"Because you're weak. You've always been weak. I had high hopes for you! You made me feel proud! But now I see that you have no place in my army." He spoke harshly to the fearful jester child.

Jestro held his breath as the bracelet on his masters' wrist began to glow in an eerie purple hue.

"A curse upon you and everyone you love." The necromancer spoke as he dropped Jestro to the floor.

Jestro grabbed his throat as he caught his breath. Monstrox continued to speak.

"Unless you find someone who will love you as you are... you shall forever remain a beast!" The necromancer concluded with a shout.

Jestro looked up as his master looked down on him with a look of disappointment. The boy put his hands on his chest when he felt a zapping sensation. He let out a painful cry as it turned into electrocution. Monstrox looked down at the boy as his expression softer and saddened.

"Sorry, kid." He whispered unemotionally.

The gang watched in horror as Jestro began to cry out in pain. Monstrox walked around him and grabbed Roberto from the rest of the group. Lavaria and the gang looked at the duo with angry resentment.

"What did you do to him!?" Magmar yelled out.

Monstrox looked at his wrist as the bracelet continued to glow.

"You'll see in a minute." The necromancer began to disappear along with Roberto, his broken staff and some of the stone monsters.

Roberto looked at the gang with a stare of sad regret as he disappeared with Monstrox. When the duo and half of the stone monsters were gone, Lavaria and Whiparella quickly ran over to Jestro. Lavaria bent down and tried to ask what was wrong, but Jestro just groaned and moaned as he held his chest. Everyone watched with wide eyes as something began to happen.

Jestro opened his as eyes as he breathed heavily with pain induced tears. He looked down at his hands as his skin slowly and painfully changed colour; turning blue with marks moving like lightning. The boy sat up and screamed as giant bolts of lightning blasted out of his skin; hitting and destroying the monsters that Monstrox left behind. The gang all watched as Jestro continued to cry and scream as he turned into an uncontrollable battery bomb.

"GET DOWN!" Magmar yelled out; knowing something was going to happen.

Whiparella and Lavaria did not listen. They tried to reach their boy. But they were caught in a blast of light and electricity.

* * *

Lavaria opened her eyes slowly. She saw only blurs and heard nothing for the next few seconds. She opened them again and saw things clearly. The woman groaned as she sat up and rubbed her aching head. She wandered what happened to make her black out like that. But that was replaced with another question.

Lavaria noticed that something was different about her. She looked at her hand and gasped. Her skin was no longer a light brown tone. Her skin was now red; covered in dark spots on her shoulders, midriff and knees. She could not see it, but her eyes were now yellow and her teeth were now sharp and fang-like. She started breathing heavily as she tried to process what has happened.

"Stay calm, Lavaria; stay calm." She told herself.

She looked up when she heard the sound Whiparellas' voice. Lavaria looked to her left and saw something lying next to her. A woman was trying to get up off the floor. Her skin was now also red with dark scale-like marks on her midsection that resembled her dress. But that was not the only thing that changed. Her legs were gone and replaced with a snake tail. Lavaria shook her head in disbelief as she could not believe that was her partner.

"Whippy?" She called her by her nick name.

Whiparella opened her now yellow eyes with fear as she looked at her partner.

"Lavaria? What happened to you!?" She questioned.

"Same thing that happened to us."

The pair turned to see who they thought was Beast master. But his skin was now red, his teeth were sharp with drool and his good eye was yellow. A pair of ball shaped monsters hid behind him.

"What are those things behind you?" Whiparella questioned as she sat up.

"Those 'things' are my babies!" Beast master broke down crying; holding the two changed creatures. "Oh my precious; what did he do you?"

Lavaria looked around. Everyone was turned into some kind of lava monster. Magmar almost looked the same apart from the red skin, rocky markings on his shoulders, sharp teeth and yellow eyes. Book keeper was now a red skined goblin creature with pointed ears and weird looking yellow eyes. Flama was turned into a creature made completely out of fire while Moltor looked he was made of charcoal black rock; his fists turned into boulders.

"What the heck is this!?" Moltor shouted in fear.

"Where are my legs!?" Flama panicked.

Burnzie and Sparkks turned into monstrous rocky magma covered giants. Burnzie into a red monster with sharp teeth, yellow eyes and devil horns while Sparkks was now a charcoal black monster with wings too small to use, hot glowing horns and one big giant eye. The two looked at each other and screamed.

"What are you!?" Burnzie screamed.

"What are you!?" Sparkks screamed back.

Everyone was shocked and worried by their new appearances. But something caught Magmars' attention.

"Where's Jestro?" He raised a brow as he questioned.

Everyone wandered the same. Just then, they heard something that sounded like shivering mixed with crying. Lavaria and Whiparella looked towards the middle of them; gasping when they saw Jestro curled up on the floor. Everyone quickly ran to him; Burnzie picked Whiparella up and carried her. Lavaria and Magmar bent down as they observed what happened to Jestro. The boys clothes were torn to shreds; missing the left sleeve of his hood and the right leg of his pants. The middle of his hood was torn as well; leaving his torso exposed. The colours were changed from blue and light purple to yellow and dark purple. But that was not what had them worried. Jestros' skin was glowing blue; with marks on him that moved on their own. His hair turned snow white and his ears were now pointed. Everyone watched anxiously as he turned his head; now able to see his face. Jestro opened his eyes as black tears poured out. His eyes were no longer the bright green that Lavaria and Whiparella loved. They were a beastly yellow and the whites of his eyes were now soul stealing black. Jestro took heavy breaths as he tried to speak, put he could not get anything out. Lavaria put her hand on his back; telling him that everything was going to be okay. Even though she did not know for sure... No one did...


	11. Chapter 11

_**Red Rose**_

* * *

Moltor punched a wall of the living area; grunting and growling in frustration. Everyone kept thinking they should stop him. But they felt his frustration.

"That scumbag just turns us into monsters and runs off like a coward!" Moltor growled as he continued to punch. "Next time I see him, I'll pound him to pudding!"

"Monstrox is probably far away by now. And with any luck, he's powerless with a broken staff." Magmar calmly replied as he polished a piece of mouth guard armour. "He won't be able to take over the kingdom and hopefully we'll never see him again."

Lavaria and Whiparella held and tried to comfort Jestro as he quietly sobbed. Everyone was having trouble adjusting to their new forms; some a bit harder than the others. Flama crossed his arms as he growled.

"You guys got off pretty easy!" The flame creature questioned. "I can't touch anything now without incinerating it!"

"And you and Whiparella lost your legs." Burnzie remained bluntly.

Beast master narrowed his eyebrows as he tried comfort his two pets.

"I'd like to get my hands on Roberto. He lied to us." He spoke rather bitterly.

Book Keeper crossed his arms and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it's all his fault!" Sparkks added.

Lavaria and Whiparella watched in worry as Jestro covered his ears. The men began to shout and argue about Monstrox and Roberto. After a minute of this, Whiparella had enough.

"STOP IT!"

Everyone went silent when Whiparella yelled at the top of her lungs. They noticed how upset Jestro was; covering his ears and crying. Everyone realised that this wasn't just about them. Jestro was taking it harder them any of them. Magmar stood up and spoke.

"We mustn't turn against each other." He uttered with his head down. "We are not animals."

Moltor gave the general a hard stare before turning away.

"No. We're monsters."

Everyone watched as Moltor left the room, going up the stairs into the dark arena. Jestro looked up with his still teary eyes.

"This is all my fault."

Everyone looked at the boy in worry when he blamed himself.

"I broke the staff. None of you deserve this." The boy sobbed as he tried to wipe away the continuous tears.

Lavaria and Whiparella held their boy tightly; telling him that none of this was his fault. Beast Masters Pets jumped up on the sofa and nuzzled against Jestro in an attempt to cheer him up.

"Hey, come look at this!"

Everyone heard Moltor call out from the dark arena. Lavaria carried Jestro and Sparkks carried Whiparella in as everyone ran in. Moltor stood in the doorway; pointing towards the middle of the arena. Everyone stepped forward to see what he was pointing at. Everyone looked with weird confused faces when they saw what was in the middle of the arena.

A bright pink glow illuminated from a distance. Everyone followed Magmar as he walked closer. The cursed general tilted his head to side as he made what it was. Right in the middle of the floor. Growing out of the earthy floor. A rose.

"What is that?" Burnzie and Sparkks questioned.

"That's a rose, obviously." Flama said with a sneer.

"But where's it here?" Beast Master questioned further.

"Maybe it is some kind of omen." Whiparella suggested.

Book keeper was about to approach, but Magmar stopped him. Lavaria put Jestro down to let him stand.

"Now hold on a minute. This could be some kind of trap." The general warned.

Whiparella and Lavaria looked towards Jestro. But they both when they saw him walking towards the glowing rose. Everyone watched as Magmar tried to stop him, but Book keeper tugged on his cloak; silently telling him to stay. Everyone watched anxiously as Jestro kneeled in front of the rose. The cursed boy tilted his head to the side as it glowed; as if he was hypnotised. Everyone watched as Jestro slowly put his hands over the rose; taking a step back as a gold glow illuminated from Jestros' hands. In a flash, the gold glow turned into a glass dome forming around the rose; protecting it as Jestro picked it up and held it. Everyone watched with amazement and concern as Jestro turned around; holding the rose containing dome protectively.

"Did he just-?" Moltor tried to question the magic that Jestro just used.

Jestro looked up at the adults before he left the arena with the rose. Lavaria was about to follow him, but Whiparella told her to leave him be for now. Everyone went back to the living area to discuss the situation they were in.

"So we're all monsters now. What're we gonna do?" Flama got straight to the point.

"Monstrox has put some sort of curse on us." Magmar pointed out the obvious. "But for every curse, there's a way to break it."

Everyone thought about as they tried to remember the words that Monstrox said.

"Jestro is the one who suffered the effects first, didn't he?" Beast master questioned.

"Yes. Monstrox said a curse upon him and everyone he loves. That meant us." Whiparella answered.

Moltor crossed his arms with a grimace.

"So this is all Jestros' fault." The boulder fisted monster accused harshly.

Lavaria and Whiparella looked at him with shock.

"How can you say that!?" Whiparella questioned in anger.

"Well it is! He broke the boss's staff and got us turned into this!" Moltor clarified his point.

Flama looked up at his brother with a questionable face.

"Moltor, he's only a kid."

Moltor turned away from his brother.

"I know! I'm just mad as heck!" He answered with a frustrated sob.

Everyone watched with stunned faces as Moltor held back tears. Book keeper came up to him and tried to comfort him by patting him on the back. Lavaria stood up.

"We shouldn't be mad at Jestro. He did it for a reason." She spoke in the boys defence.

"What reason?" Magmar questioned.

Lavaria was about to say why. But she couldn't get any words out. Whiparella watched with concern as he partner held her head in worry.

"He... he did it for someone. But I can't remember who!" Lavaria spoke with panic in her voice.

Whiparella watched with wide as she tried to think. But she couldn't remember who Jestro broke the staff for. Lavaria quickly ran to her for comfort; fearing that this might be part of the curse. Burnzie and Sparkks walked up to them.

"You two okay?" The pair asked in worry.

Lavaria let go of Whiparella and ran out of the living area; saying she was going to look for Jestro.

Lavaria looked everywhere for the boy. She checked the women's quarters, the kitchen, even Monstroxs' office. She wondered if he went into the library, but that was next the living room and has not been used at all. There was one place she could check. Lavaria went into the west wing of the castle. Where the Masters private chambers were. She made her way past some broken statues in the hallway; walking over them and focusing on her way. She finally reached the door at the end of the hall. She gently pushed the door open; making a light squeaky sound.

Lavaria quietly stepped through the door. She looked around in the dimly lit room; seeing a large king sized bed and a few bits of furniture. A group picture of everyone was framed and hung on the wall. It was taken a while ago; a few days before today. But she noticed that two of the faces were scratched out. Monstrox and Roberto.

"He lied to me, didn't he?"

Lavaria turned to the balcony of the room; seeing Jestro standing there and the rose placed on a small table. Lavaria slowly stepped forward as Jestro talked some more.

"I was just a pawn this whole time." The boy spoke unemotionally; unnerving Lavaria as she got closer. "It wasn't about training me, was it?"

Jestro fell silent again when Lavaria was just behind him. She was about to say something when Jestro quickly turned around and hugged her tightly. Lavaria could tell that he was about to cry again.

"I don't know why I broke it, Lavaria." The boy sobbed quietly. "I can't remember why I did it. I know I did it for someone, but I can't remember who!"

Lavaria looked down the balcony as she realised what the curse was doing. Turning everyone into monsters was cruel enough, but making them forget why? Lavaria shook her head as she looked down at the giant moat of lava down below that was not there yesterday and the snow on the ground that was not melting. She thought that might be part of the curse as well. But she took her focus away from that and focused on comforting Jestro.

"I know, sweetie. It'll be okay." She tried to reassure him. "Monstrox is gone now. He'll never hurt you again."

Jestro looked up at Lavaria with teary eyes. Even though they were black and yellow like a demon, Lavaria still knew they belonged to an innocent soul.

"But, what about you and Whiparella. And everyone... You all had nothing to do with it." Jestro pleaded though his sobs. "It's not fair."

Lavaria was not sure how she was going to tell him that Monstrox was planning to make him his vessel. But she was not going to tell him now; he was too young to understand. But she knew that the next few years were going to be rough. Not just for him, but for everyone.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: There is blood in this chapter, if it makes you uncormfortable, I apologise. But after this Chapter, good things will happen. I promise.**

* * *

 _ **Through the Years**_

* * *

 **9**

* * *

One year on from that day, Jestro was now nine years old. Throughout the first year of the curse, things just got hard for everyone. Lavaria still had to go to town to gather supplies, but she could no longer do it in the daytime out of risk of being seen. Since Whiparella had a tail instead of legs, she had to learn to slither instead of walk. Burnzie and Sparkks were bigger and stronger than they were before; having trouble fitting through some of the doors of the castle and accidentally breaking things from time to time. Magmar and Moltor were stronger as well, but Magmar had more self-control then Moltor did. Flama could not touch anything without setting it on fire, but almost everyone was turned into a lava based monster. Jestro was the only one he could not touch without hurting him. Beast Master had trouble keeping up with his two pets because they were now faster in their round ball shape forms. But he was a bit faster and stronger than he was before. Book keeper was pretty much the same, but he seemed to have become slightly hyperactive; running around the castle and climbing on furniture. As for Jestro...

Jestro was almost nothing like he was before. Physically and mentally, he changed. Whiparella and Lavaria grew concerned for him as he stayed quiet most of the time. He barely ever looked at anyone in the eye when he talked to them. He moved from sharing the women's quarters with Lavaria and Whiparella to the masters chamber. He kept the rose in its glass dome; feeling a strange need to protect it. Some days, he barely came out of his room. He usually only came down for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

One day, the gang were sitting in the living room discussing their situation.

"I sure you're all not used to your forms. So we need to figure out a way to undo this curse." Magmar pointed out the obvious with good intentions.

"What did that jerk say when he cursed us?" Flama played with sparks from his fingers as he tried to remember.

"It was unless you find someone who will love you as you are, you will remain a beast." Beast Master reminded.

"What does it mean?" Burnzie asked.

Whiparella looked up as she played with her whips.

"Isn't it obvious? Someone has to love Jestro for what he is inside." She answered the question.

"But we all love him." Sparkks pointed out.

"I don't think it works that way." Lavaria respectively argued. "I'm not a necromancer. But I know there are curses that can only be lifted by the power of love."

"So Jestro needs someone to fall in love with him." Moltor said with a raised brow. "Jeez, that just sounds cheesy."

Just as they were talking, Jestro was walking down the stairs; listening in on their discussion.

"But how is someone going to come out here? No one knows about this place except us and Monstrox." Beast master pointed out.

"Maybe we could go to one of the towns and kidnap some girls for Jestro." Flama proposed with a rather mischievous grin.

"Absolutely not! If we leave the castle, we could gather the attention of monster hunting villagers with pitchforks and torches!" Magmar disapproved of Flame's idea.

"Yeah, you idiot." Moltor pointed his fist at his brother.

Flama gave Moltor an annoyed glare before flicking a pebble sized fireball into Moltors forehead. Moltor let out a pained noise before giving his brother an angry grimace.

"Stop it you two!" Whiparella shouted; making the twins stop and pay attention to her. "Even if someone just wondered in here, there's a lot we need to consider for Jestro."

Lavaria nodded in agreement.

"And he's a bit young for that." Lavaria added another factor to consider. "We might have wait a few years before we can-"

Lavaria fell silent when she saw Jestro standing there in the doorway. Everyone went silent when they turned and saw the cursed child. Jestro looked at them as well before turning away.

"I'm going for a walk." He said unemotionally before walking to the front door.

Everyone watched as Jestro pulled open a small gap in between the large iron doors; slipping through them like a ghost. Lavaria and Whiparella looked at each other in worry. Jestro had been going outside on the days where he did leave his room, but everyone was concerned and worried about what he would do if he were alone or wondered too far from the castle. Jestro insisted that he needed the time to himself to gather his thoughts.

Jestro kept his head down as he wondered on the snowy path of the forest. He never understood why it was always like this now. But he had a feeling that it was part of the curse. Jestro always thought a walk through the woods would help him clear his mind. But he had trouble doing that even. Even when he tried to think of things that made him happy, they just went away again. He was not sure how long he would be able to take this curse.

 ***Crunch***

Jestro quickly froze when he heard what sounded like the sound of a twig or a stick being stepped on. The cursed boy looked into the direction of the sound; taking a step back in fear of what it could be. He braced himself as he sensed something coming out of the bushes.

Jestro calmed down when a small creature came out from the bushes. Jestro recognised it. The green scaled skin, the sharp tail, the wings and the big beastly eyes.

"It's you." He muttered under his breath as he remembered that horrible morning.

The cursed creature tilted its head as he looked up at Jestro. Jestro looked away in shame; thinking about that day when Monstrox forced him to curse that harmless little bunny.

"I'm sorry."

The creature kept looking at Jestro as he talked to him.

"You probably can't understand me, but I'm sorry for turning you and your friend into monsters." Jestro apologised to the cursed bunny as he held back tears. "I can't imagine how terrible your life has been for the past year. If it makes you feel better, I'm never going to use magic ever again. So hopefully, no one else will suffer because of me."

The creature tilted its head as it moved forward towards the cursed boy. Jestro looked down and smiled a little as he bent down.

"You're not that different from what you really are. Are you?"

Jestro gently held his hand out to pat the cursed bunny. But something happened as he did so. When he came into contact with the cursed creature, light erupted from the skin; blinding Jestro and making him cover his eyes. Jestro rubbed them when he opened them again; going wide eyed when he saw what happened just then.

Jestro stared at the creature as it stared at him. But it was no longer a scaled skinned winged monster. Jestro could not believe himself as he looked at the uncursed bunny with white fur, little eyes and a fluffy tail. The bunny tilted its head again before turning around and hopping away into the snow covered bushes. Jestro stared at the bushes; unable to process what just happened. The boy blinked and looked down at his hands; unsure if he somehow lifted the bunny's curse. He could only question it as he walked back to the castle.

* * *

 **14**

* * *

Lavaria quietly counted to one hundred as she finished doing her early morning sit-ups. Whiparella was still asleep in the bed that they shared; her long tail taking up most of it. During the first few year of the curse, they had trouble falling asleep together in the same bed; having their body temperatures raised rather high. Whiparella developed a habit of unknowingly wrapping her tail around Lavaria when they were asleep. Lavaria did not really mind; even though Whiparella would sometimes squeeze a little too tightly. Lavaria looked at the sleeping snake woman and sighed. Even in these cursed forms, everyone still had a tight bond with each other. But it was more often than not when they would argue.

A loud knock at the door awoke Whiparella from her sleep. Lavaria turned to the door with a glare as the knocking continued. She quickly stomped over and opened the door.

"What?" She spoke with grit before realising who was at the door.

Lavaria calmed down when she saw Book Keeper in front of her. But it quickly turned into concern when she noticed that he looked rather nervous and scared.

"Booky, what's wrong?" Lavaria asked Book Keeper as Whiparella got up.

Book keeper looked and pointed towards the stairs as he made scared noises. Lavaria and Whiparella gave each other confused looks, but from the way Book Keeper was acting, something must have been wrong. The pair followed the short monster as he ran down to the stairs. When they got there, they gasped in short. Everyone was standing a around the floor of the entrance room; looking at millions of broken mirror pieces. Magmar made sure everyone was staying away from the sharp pieces as Lavaria and Whiparella came in.

"What's all this?" The snake woman questioned.

"Someone smashed all the mirrors in the castle. Must've done it last night when we were all asleep." Magmar theorised before turning to the twins. "So who did it?"

Moltor and Flama gave the general hard disbelieved looks.

"It wasn't us!" The pair spoke in unison.

Before Magmar could question them further, Beast Master and his pets came running into the run in panic. Everyone paid attention to him as he began to speak.

"Jestro's not in his room!" He panicked in a breathy voice. "I can't find him anywhere!"

Lavaria and Whiparella looked at each other in silent panic. Magmar told everyone to calm down and look for the teen. It was just as Beast master said. They looked everywhere but they could not find him.

"I checked the kitchen; he's not there!" Flama informed.

"He's not in the bathroom either!" Moltor added.

Lavaria nervously bit her lip before realising something. There was one place where they have not looked.

"What about the library?" She suggested; getting everyone's attention.

Everyone but Whiparella gave the sneaky woman a weird look.

"But no uses the library." Burnzie reminded.

"But maybe Jestro went in there for some time to himself." Sparkks suggested.

Everyone thought about it. It made a lot of sense. Everyone rushed to the living room and looked towards the entrance to the library. Lavaria was right. The door to the library was wide open; but it was dark inside. Everyone quietly made their way inside to find Jestro. Everyone went into different directions and whisper shouted Jestro's name. Beast Master climbed up a ladder leading to the second and third floors of the library. He noticed a small light flash behind him. The animal tamer turned to see a blue glowing figure sitting on the floor. He quickly recognised who it was.

"Found him!" He called out to the others.

Jestro looked up as Beast master gently grabbed him and jumped back down to the first floor with him in his arms. Everyone gathered around them as Beast master gently put Jestro back down on the floor. Whiparella and Lavaria came forward.

"You really scared us, Jestro." Whiparella spoke as she hugged him.

"Why did you come in here?" Lavaria questioned.

Everyone watched as Jestro stayed silent. He looked down and lifted a big book in his arms.

"I found something." He spoke unemotionally.

Everyone watched as Jestro opened up the book and showed the pages inside. Everyone watched with wide eyes as the pages glowed in gold and showed a map of the world.

"What is that?" Sparkks asked in awe.

"I think that's an atlas." Beast master assumed.

Jestro looked down at the page.

"It took me to a place outside the castle. But no one could see me when I was there." The teen explained.

"So it's a magic book?" Moltor questioned.

"Can we try it?" Burnzie asked excitedly.

Magmar told everyone to be quiet.

"I know this is an exciting development." Magmar began to speak before turning to Jestro. "But we need to get something out if the way."

The general walked closer to Jestro before stopping in front of him.

"Jestro... Did you break all the mirrors in the castle last night?"

Everyone watched as Jestro tried to say something. But all he could do was drop the atlas on the floor. Everyone watched with wide eyes as he fell to his knees and weeped. Lavaria and Whiparella quickly rushed to his side.

"I can't stand to look at the thing that stares back at me every time I look in a mirror." He sobbed with his voice full of tears. "I broke all but one."

Everyone knew that Jestro did not break the seeing mirror. But knowing that he hated looking at himself was worrying. Everyone shared the same thought. The curse was just getting worse.

* * *

 **17**

* * *

Magmar grunted as he lifted the mirror he took from the rubbish tip into the entrance room. Lavaria came out of the living area to see what was going on.

"Magmar, what're you doing?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Remember a few years ago when Jestro broke all the mirrors in the castle except for the hand mirror?" The general reminded. "I took a trip to the tip and found this for him."

Lavaria sighed and shook her head.

"He won't want it." She disagreed.

Magmar gave the sneaky woman a questionable look.

"I thought he could use it." He clarified.

"I know your intentions are good Magmar, but Jestro absolutely hates mirrors." Lavaria reminded. "He'll just smash it into pieces."

Magmar sighed in frustration before lifting the mirror again.

"Fine. I'll put it in the dungeon for now." He grunted as he. Walked past Lavaria and made his way down the stairs to the dungeon below.

Lavaria watched as Magmar carefully made his way down the stairs to the dungeon. She turned back as she thought she should check on Jestro. She made her way up the stairs and through the hallway leading to his room. She gently pushed the door open and poked her head inside.

"Jestro? You in here?" She spoke with a gently but clear whisper.

Lavaria noticed that it was quite dark in the room apart from the glow of the rose. But she had trouble seeing the glow of Jestros electrical blue skin. Lavaria slowly moved towards the curtains and opened them; letting the light of the setting sun in. She looked towards Jestros bed; seeing a lump in the dark blankets and sheets that were slowly shaking. Lavaria thought Jestro might have been taking a nap. But as she went closer to the bed, she noticed that something was not right.

For the last few years, Lavaria noticed that her senses had been heightened after being cursed; notably her sense of smell and hearing. She went closer to the bed as a strange smell hit her. A strange sound that resembled heavy breathing reached her ears. But the smell made her insides turn cold. Lavaria did not realise what the metallic smell was until now. It was blood.

Lavaria quickly ran to the bed and pulled the covers away. She gasped in horror when she saw Jestro with his bare back turned to her; bleeding from deep cuts. Lavaria began to panic as she saw the blood slowly running down the side of Jestro's back.

"Jestro! Don't move; I'll be right back!" She instructed before running out to get first aid.

Lavaria quickly ran to the bathroom and took a medical kit from the cupboard and a bowl of warm water; running straight back to Jestro's room. She quickly but gently cleaned off the blood bleeding out of his back with a wet cloth, applied antibacterial ointment and bandaged the wounds to stop the bleeding. Lavaria still felt her insides being cold with fear and worry.

"What happened? How did you hurt yourself?" She questioned in a firm but concerned tone.

Jestro sat up slowly and turned to face Lavaria. The sneaky woman felt her heart sink when she saw that Jestros face was wet with tears. But she almost had a heart attack when she realised that his hands and fingers were covered in blood. Jestro looked up at her as he started shaking again.

"I didn't know what happened." He spoke as he held in sobs. "I was just trying to scratch an itch on my back, then I felt really bad pain."

Lavaria watched as Jestro looked down at his blood covered hands. She gently put her hands on his shoulders as she helped him out of bed.

"Let's get you cleaned up." She proceeded to take him to the nearest bathroom.

Lavaria gently lead Jestro to the closest bathroom. When they arrived, she helped him wash away the blood from his hands and any that got anywhere else. But she did not understand how Jestro would have cut himself like that. Until the blood was washed off his hands. Lavaria looked at Jestros hands; noticing that his finger nails were black and they were long. She thought that he probably needed to trim them down, but she quickly noticed that they did look quite sharp; almost like a knife even. She looked at the rest of him; realising how undernourished and sickly he looked.

"I'm not getting better."

Lavaria looked up as Jestro started speaking.

"It's getting worse. I don't know how much more I can take."

Jestro lost control of his sobs and started crying into the bathroom sink. Lavaria quickly responded by putting her hand on his back; attempting to comfort him anyway she could.

"It's going to be okay, Jestro." She tried to reassure him.

Jestro stopped crying and just began to breathe heavily.

"You keep saying that." He breathed in and out. "But you know it's not true."

Lavaria blinked and took her hand away when noticed something odd about Jestro's voice.

"No one will come here."

Jestro had a strange electrical sounding filter in his voice. Lavaria tried to ignore it as she tried to comfort him.

"We just need to stay hopeful." She said with reassurance.

"THERE IS NO HOPE!"

Lavaria took a few steps back as Jestro turned and looked at her with an enraged grimace and stared with glowing yellow eyes.

"YOU KEEP SAYING THAT SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN AND EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE! BUT YOU'RE LYING! YOU'RE JUST AS SCARED AS EVERYONE ELSE! YOU'RE JUST TRING TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER!"

Lavaria stared with wide eyes as Jestro stared back at her with those terrifying eyes. Jestro slowly calmed down; his look softening into a confused stare and his eyes losing their glow. He looked away from Lavaria as he started tearing up again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." He apologised as he held in his sobs.

Lavaria quietly sighed before gently wrapping her arms around Jestro.

"I am scared, Jestro. We all are. But I keep telling myself and everyone that it's going to be alright because it helps." She explained as she comforted her boy.

Jestro hugged her backed as he let his tears fall.

"Even if someone did come here, they would never love me." He spoke pessimisticly. "I mean look at me! Who could love a beast!?"

Lavaria was to say something to calm Jestro and comfort him. But they both fell silent when they felt shaking beneath them. Jestro held onto the sink and Lavaria held onto the door as the shaking continued. After thirty seconds, it stopped.

"What was that?" Jestro questioned in a shaken voice.

Lavaria was not really sure what just happened either. But she could now hear the sound of running footsteps coming from the stairs. Lavaria quickly went over to the door and opened it; seeing the others running towards Jestro's room.

"Guys; I'm here!" She called; getting their attention.

Whiparella quickly slithered towards her partner while Magmar and the other men quickly followed behind.

"Lavy, are you alright?" The snake woman questioned in worry and concern.

"It's okay, Whippy; I'm fine." Lavaria answered to ease her worry.

"What about Jestro?" Burnzie questioned further.

"Is he alright?" Sparkks added.

Lavaria looked towards the bathroom door as Jestro came out to see what was happening. When he came out, Book Keeper ran up and hugged him. Jestro was not really sure what to make of it, but he hugged back.

"Why was the castle shaking like that!?" Beast master questioned in paranoia.

"Maybe it was an earthquake." Moltor theorised.

"Earthquakes never happen in this area." Magmar debunked Moltor's theory.

Well everyone was trying to figure what happened, Jestro felt that something was not right. He gently broke away from book keeper and ran past the others to get to his room. He opened the door and ran to the rose. Everyone followed him to him standing next the table. But he looked upset. They watched as he turned to face them with a scared expression.

"A petal fell off." He spoke in a shaky voice.

Everyone gave Jestro a confused look before they came towards him and the rose. They soon noticed that a petal really did fall from the rose and landed on the table. But it was all wilted and dry. Everyone knew that petals that fell from their flowers were sometimes still fresh and smooth and they would only begin to crumble up after a day or two. But Jestro knew that his rose had all its petals attached just a minute ago. It made him and the others think. Did the rose have something to do with the curse? Did it serve as some kind of time limit? What would happen if the last petal fell?

* * *

 **?**

* * *

For the next few years, things were rather quiet. But tensions were lingering. The rose was slowly losing its petals. And every time it lost a petal, the castle would shake and fall apart. Jestro was slowly losing his humanity and becoming more beast-like and everyone realised that something had to be done. But Jestro forbid anyone from leaving the castle apart from Lavaria. Only she was allowed because she needed to get food and supplies. She even had to resort to hunting animals for meat and stealing vegetables and fruits from nearby farms under the cover of the night. It was not until one late morning that things would soon change.

Lavaria was sharpening her blades in her room when she heard knocking at the door. With a jolt, she sat up and ran to open it. When she opened the door, she saw Whiparella standing there with a nervous and worried face.

"Whippy, what's wrong?" Lavaria asked.

"In the entrance room! There are strangers in the castle!" Whiparella blurted out.

Lavaria looked at Whiparella with wide eyes before she was grabbed and dragged out from her room; being told that she needed to see what was happening. Whiparella and Lavaria stopped and stood at the top of the stairs when they heard a stranger's voice.

"Look man, this is just a big misunderstanding." They heard the unfamiliar voice of what sounded like a teenager. "We were just trying to get to the next town."

"But the road was blocked." A deep voice added.

"Yeah, so we-"

"What are you staring at?" They heard Jestro interrupt them.

Lavaria and Whiparella moved a bit to see what was happening. Jestro was standing in front of a net that had a group of people trapped in it. They were surrounded by the others as Jestro was becoming rather angry and unstable.

"We weren't staring at anything!" They heard a female voice shout from the net.

"So you've come to stare at the beast, have you!?" Jestro shouted back.

"No! We don't want any trouble!" A rather stuck up voice replied to Jestro.

"Too bad! You found trouble the second you barged in here!"

Lavaria and Whiparella watched as Jestro gave Burnzie and Sparkks a hard demanding look; making them stand up straight.

"Burnzie! Sparkks! Throw them in the dungeon!" Jestro yelled to the pair.

"Yes, boss!" The pair carried out their orders.

Lavaria and Whiparella watched as the two giants lifted the net and took the captured intruders into the dungeon. They heard their yells and screams in protest until they disappeared under the stairs. The pair watched as Jestro stood in front of his as they stared at him.

"WHAT'RE YOU ALL LOOKING AT!?" He yelled in his electrical voice.

Everyone quickly turned and ran in different ways. Before Jestro could leave to his room, Whiparella and Lavaria confronted him.

"Jestro, what just happened in here?" Lavaria questioned him.

"There were intruders, so I had them thrown in the dungeon." Jestro spoke the obvious.

"But why?" Whiparella questioned.

"They had weapons, they would've have hurt us if given the chance!"

"They seemed quite terrified of being thrown into the dungeon." Lavaria pointed out.

Jestro just growled in frustration before giving his carers an enraged stare.

"I don't want to discuss it anymore!"

Jestro pushed past them and ran to his room in the west wing. Lavaria and Whiparella gave each other worried and concerned looks as they heard the door slam.

Lavaria and Whiparella sat in the living room area; only lit by a weak fire in the fireplace. Lavaria paced around as she trid to think of something.

"We need to break this curse." She spoke in a grim tone. "The rose is losing its petals and Jestro is becoming more like Monstrox because of it."

"Oh, I hate it. If I could get my hands on that backstabbing coward right now, I'd do unspeakable things to him." Whiparella spoke with vengeful malice.

Lavaria put her hand to her chin in thought.

"One of the intruders was a woman. Maybe we can introduce her to Jestro." She thought out loud.

"That would not work. That girl might hurt him if given the chance." Whiparella disagreed.

Lavaria sighed in frustration as she sat down on the couch. Whiparella put her arm around her to calm her down.

"We're running out of options, Whippy!" She spoke in frustrated anger. "We need a miracle!"

Just as Lavaria finished talking, the large iron doors opened wide. Lavaria and Whiparella quickly hid behind the couch; knowing more intruders were coming.

"Search every inch of this place. If you see anything dangerous, don't be afraid to fight back."

They heard a voice from outside the doors. They watched as someone came in with a bunch of little robots with weak looking weapons. The pair looked at the one leading them. They assumed that he was some sort of Knight Because of the armour he was wearing and the shield and sword he was carrying.

"What's a knight doing here?" Whiparella questioned.

"He must be here for the prisoners." Lavaria assumed.

They watched as the knight and robots went into different directions of the castle. Two of them were coming into the living room while two of them were going into the kitchen. Whiparella gave Lavaria a mischievous grin as she saw the two robots came into the room.

"Wanna have some fun, Lava?" She asked in a mischievous whisper.

Lavaria blinked at her partner before returning the grin.

"Whippy, you know I love fun."

Little did they know that their luck was about to change.


	13. Chapter 13

**_A Happy Ending_**

* * *

Everything changed when Clay came. Everything changed for the better. Thanks to Clay, Jestro got his life back and Monstrox was gone from their lives. One year on from when the curse was lifted, things slowly but surely improved. The gang were adjusting back into their human forms and improving themselves as human beings. A few weeks after the curse was broken, Clay asked Jestro if he and his family wanted to move to Knighton with him and out of the castle. After discussing it with them, they said yes; thinking it would be a nice change. After a while, the Knights helped them build a house big enough for all of them; building it right next to where Clay and Jestro were living. They would always visit each other to catch up on many things. But one day, Jestro came over to the house with the most joyful smile on his face. The gang only just noticed that he had a ring on his finger when he gave them the good news.

Clay proposed. And Jestro accepted.

* * *

Whiparella fixed up Jestro's hair and white head piece while Lavaria gave him a makeover for his big day. The pair were going to make sure their boy looked as beautiful as he felt.

"And a little bit of blush and we're done." Lavaria announced as she finished applying the makeup.

Jestro opened his eyes and blinked a bit. Whiparella finished fixing up the blue and purple dress coat that he wore when he first danced with Clay. She gently put it on him as she held back joyful tears. Jestro stood up and looked at himself in the body length mirror in the room. The jester stared with silent awe as he turned around to see the rest. Lavaria and Whiparella watched as he covered his mouth and closed his eyes. The pair looked at him with concern.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Lavaria asked.

"Don't you like it?" Whiparella asked nervously.

Jestro looked at himself in the mirror. Lavaria made his usually wild hair nice and neat. She applied a nice amount of makeup on him; giving his cheeks a soft bit of blush with his favourite light red lipstick and light but colourful shares of blue and purple eyeshadow. He wore all white underneath his dress coat; like he was showing how he changed since the lifting of the curse. Jestro took his hand away as he gave the pair a teary but joyous smile.

"I love it." He croaked out.

Lavaria and Whiparella smiled as they pulled their boy into an embracive hug. Jestro managed to keep the tears in; smiling as he thought of how happy this day would be. The trio did not notice Magmar as he came in. The general knocked on the door to gain their attention.

"I hate to interrupt, but they're ready to start the ceremony." He said as he held out a ring made of flowers.

Lavaria nodded as she took the flower crown from Magmar and gently placed it on top of Jestro's head. Jestro made a small squeak as he covered his mouth.

"Excited?" Whiparella asked with a grin.

"Yeah. And a bit nervous." Jestro answered back.

Lavaria gently put her hand on Jestros cheek; making him look at her.

"It's alright, Jestro." She reassured him of any worries. "Just remember that your knight is out there waiting for you."

Jestro nodded with a nervous but eager smile. Magmar held as arm out to the jester; ready to lead him out of the room to the main event. Whiparella and Lavaria followed them as they made their way outside to a large gathering. Everyone was there. The gang, the Knights, Robin, Ava, Merlok, Roberto, the king and Queen and several squirebots; all standing around for the main event. Book Keeper turned away from the group to see Magmar coming with Jestro and the girls. The short man smiled before getting everyone's attention; silently telling them to move to the sides. Everyone quickly moved out of the way; revealing the second man of the hour.

Jestro felt his insides going cold with nervous anticipation when he saw Clay standing there at the altar with Merlok and the king; dressed in the same outfit he was in during their first dance. The knight turned and saw the Jester standing there with his family; staring in awe at the jester in white. Jestro looked down as everyone had their eyes on him. He started breathing heavily. Whiparella and Lavaria quickly responded to calm him.

"You can do this." Whiparella reassured with a gently smile.

Lavaria nodded and smiled in agreement.

"You're knight is waiting for his prince." She spoke in a gentle voice.

Jestro gave them both a look of nervous anticipation before looking at Magmar. The general smiled and nodded in approval. Jestro smiled a little before he heard the sound of a piano being played as Magmar lead him up to the altar. Everyone watched as Jestro kept his eyes forward towards Clay; trying to hide the nervous but excited grin on his face. Whiparella and Lavaria stood with the others as Magmar led their boy to the altar. The music quieted down as Magmar let go of Jestro and stood aside so he could stand next to Clay. Clay looked at Jestro with a gentle smile as the king prepared to conduct the ceremony.

"You look perfect." The knight commented in a whisper.

Jestro smiled a bit as his cheeks turned pink.

"You too." He whispered back.

Everyone quieted down as the king began to speak.

"Dearly beloved. We have gathered here today to witness the joining of Sir Clay Moorington and Jestro..."

The king paused for a moment.

"Ummm... Jestro..."

Jestro stepped forward and whispered something into the kings' ear. His majesty went wide eyed and let out a quiet oh before speaking again.

"Just Jestro." He corrected himself; getting a few giggles from the crowd.

Jestro held in a light chuckle as everyone else did. Clay felt his heart warm up as Jestro kept a light smile up. Everyone watched as the king continued the ceremony for the next half hour; everyone getting a bit excited towards the end as the king asked the big question. He took a gold coloured ribbon; telling the pair to hold out their hands and loosely tying them together

"Do you, Clay; take Jestro to be your husband?" He began the final part of the ceremony. "For sickness and in health, for many years to come?"

Everyone watched as Clay gave Jestro a gentle and knowing look.

"I will and shall." Clay promised; hanging onto the ribbon.

Jestro smiled nervously as he held onto the gold ribbon. The king to turned Jestro as he continued the ceremony.

"Do you, Jestro; take Clay to be your husband? For sickness and in health, for many years to come?"

Jestro looked up at Clay with a look of uncertainty. He knew he wanted this, but a part of him was scared to go through with it. Jestro found reassurance as Clay gave him a kind look that said 'don't worry. It's okay.' Jestro lightly smiled back as he his cheeks turned pink.

"I will and shall." He finally uttered the words after a few seconds.

Everyone leaned forward with anticipation as the king prepared the final part of the ceremony.

"Then by the power invested in me and by my royal decree, I hereby pronounce you husband and husband!" His majesty spoke proudly. "You may now-"

Jestro cut the king off when he jumped into Clays arms; kissing him passionately but gently; making everyone cheer and clap as Clay kissed back. King Halbert looked at Merlok with a confused faced; but the wizard just shrugged with a smile under his beard.

"You may continue to kiss." His majesty finished with a chuckle.

Clay and Jestro broke away from their kiss for Clay to hold Jestro in his arms. The jester put his face in the Knights chest. Clay grew concerned when he heard what sounded like sniffling.

"Jestro, what's wrong?" He asked in a worried tone.

Clay watched as Jestro looked up at him with teary eyes. But the jester was smiling.

"I'm great, Clay." He reassured the knight. "I just... I just feel... I don't know how to say it."

Clay watched as Jestro covered his tearful smile. The Knight smiled back as he gently wiped away the jesters' tears.

"It's okay. I know." He reassured; getting a quiet laugh out of the jester.

* * *

At the reception, everyone came up to the new couple a few at a time to congratulate them. Jestro was not used to such positive greetings. But Clay made sure he was fine. After a while, Clay and Jestro wandered off to different groups. Lavaria and Whiparella gave their boy a tight hug as his whole family came up to him.

"You sure scored yourself a good one, J-man." Flama congratulated Jestro.

"Bet you'll have fun on your honeymoon with him." Moltor added to the congratulations.

Jestro covered his face as his cheeks went pink again. But he had plenty to say.

"I'm not gonna lie. This whole thing has been surreal." He admitted. "I really didn't think we were going to make it until Clay helped us."

Magmar came to Jestro and put his hand on his shoulder like a proud father.

"If anything, I think he helped you the most." Magmar with a knowing smile; everyone nodding in agreement.

Jestro nodded back. He did not admit it, but he was afraid and scared for the past years. Hopefully now he could put it behind him. Whiparella and Lavaria spoke up.

"You two will be so happy together." Lavaria spoke up.

"You are so blessed." Whiparella spoke with a proud tone.

Jestro looked towards where Clay was. He saw his knight talking to his friends. He could not hear them. But they were smiling and laughing. He knew they were talking about something happy and good. Jestro smiled as he looked at Clay; now realising that he really was a blessing.

"Mi scusi, signor Moorington?"

Jestro snapped out of his daydream when he heard Roberto's voice talk to him. Everyone greeted the man before Jestro turned to look at him.

"Roberto." Jestro smiled as he pointed at him.

"I've come to apologise for what happened long ago." Roberto began with a heartfelt apology. "And I wanted to give you something."

Roberto had a medium sized box under his arm. He pulled it out and handed it to the newlywed. Jestro and the gang raised a brow as he took it from the sculptor. Roberto gestured for him to open it. Jestro opened the box to find an array of art supplies. Led pencils, water colour paints, paint brushes, coloured pencils, a couple of erasers, a sharpener and a few sheets of paper. The gang looked at the art set with curious looks; whispering 'oh, that's nice' and 'fancy'. Jestro gave Roberto a rather curious look.

"I've made a bit of money since I got my old job back." The artist explained. "So when I heard you were getting Married, I thought I'd get you something you might like."

Jestro adjusted the flower crown on his head as he smiled with a shrug.

"I'm not much of an artist. But I'm willing to learn." He spoke with a small smile.

"Well sculpting is my thing, so don't steal it." Roberto replied.

Everyone laughed a little; thinking Roberto was making a joke. The artist gave everyone weird looks before he realised what was going on and joined in. Jestro calmed down so he could talk again.

"I'll go put this with all the gifts." He said before walking away with the present.

Jestro walked passed and greeted a few people as he walked over to the table where all the wedding presents were. Jestro was baffled by all the gifts he and Clay got from his family and the Knights. Some of the things his family gave them seemed a bit unnecessary(like a giant sword), but he loved the atlas, the Knights of the red rose book set and the mirror. The Knights and the king and queen's gifts were a bit high tech and homey; like a toaster and even a TV with a movie player to go with it. Jestro gently put the box in with the gifts. Before he heard an odd noise.

Jestro poked his head up when he heard what sounded like a cough. He looked towards the entrance of the gardens where they were holding the reception; thinking there was someone there. His suspension was correct when he saw someone with a hood over their head standing there; hunched over, walking with a cane, facing away from him and coughing immensely. Jestro slowly walked over.

"Are you okay?"

The hunched figure finished coughing and turned to Jestro; their face hidden because of their hood.

"Don't mind me, boy." The figure spoke on a deep raspy make voice. "I'm just an old man looking for something to eat."

Jestro blinked in confusion before speaking again.

"There's some food in there. I can get you some of you like." He offered.

"I would appreciate that, young man." The old man spoke softly.

The hooded man watched as Jestro ran back into the garden; coming back half a minute later with a plate of fruit, sweets and a bread roll. The old man took the bread roll and started eating.

"Having a party in there, are you?" He asked curiously with a mouthful of bread.

"It's my wedding actually." Jestro said with a nervous grin.

The old man took a bite of the bread before speaking again.

"Newlywed, are you? Who's the lucky lady?" He asked before eating again.

"Oh, I have a husband." Jestro corrected.

The old man listened as Jestro sighed in content.

"He's like an angel. He saved my life. He saved my family."

The old man finished eating his roll before moving on to a slice of watermelon.

"Really?" He questioned. "How so?"

Jestro looked at the man with a saddened look before looking at the ground.

"Well... I used to know this man who was like my teacher." He began to explain. "I thought he was teaching me how to properly use magic. But he really wanted to use me to take over the kingdom. He made me do something I didn't want to do. So then he cursed me and my family."

The old man kept his head down as he listened.

"We had to spend at least eleven or twelve years as monsters."

Jestro brightened as he spoke.

"Then Clay came and saved us. I did imprison his friends at one point, but I wasn't really in my right mind then. But he showed me how to be happy again. I fell for him and then he told me that he loved me when I died, but it brought me back to life."

Jestro scratched the back of neck awkwardly.

"I know that sounds a bit unbelievable and cheesy." He admitted. "But it felt like something out of a fairy-tale."

The old man finished the piece of watermelon and put the green bit back on the plate.

"Well. I hope you two are happy together." He said rather unemotionally. "And I'm sure the one who hurt you has many regrets."

Jestro tilted his head a little in confusion. He was about to say something when he heard someone call out to him from the garden.

"Hey, Jestro; you're gonna miss the cake and the big dance!" He turned to see Axl standing at the entrance.

Jestro smiled at the mention of cake. He thought of the Neapolitan flavoured cake and how good it was going to taste. He quickly remembered the plate of food in his hand.

"Would you like the rest of this, sir-?"

Jestro fell silent when he saw that the old man was gone. Nowhere to be seen. The jester raised a brow and scratched his head in confusion before being called again.

"We're starting the dance, Jestro!"

Jestro turned back to the gate when he heard Beast Master call out to him. He quickly ran back inside the gardens to have some cake. After enjoying a slice of cake, everyone who felt like it decided to join in the wedding dance. Squirebots played music for everyone who was dancing; the king and Queen, Lavaria and Whiparella, even Robin and Ava(Robin was not very good at it though). Aaron was trying to ask Macy if she wanted to dance; but she was a bit nervous about it. Though everyone else was keen and already dancing. Including Clay and Jestro. Jestro looked down at the ground as he and Clay lead each other through the steps. Clay looked down at Jestro with content. The knight looked up at the band of squirebots when he heard them played a new tune. He recognised the song. It was the one that was playing when they danced together in the castle. He smiled as he looked back at Jestro.

"It's our song." He spoke; making Jestro look up.

Jestro listened as the squirebots played the tune; smiling softly as he remembered that beautiful evening.

"It is." He said softly as leaned on Clays shoulder.

Clay gently held and swayed as he held Jestro in his arms. Everything that was happening felt like a beautiful dream. But they knew it was for real. They knew things were going to be great from now on. They knew for sure that the curse was no more.

* * *

 **AN: Welp. That's it. I hope you all enjoy this prequel(I hope it made sense) and liked how it ended. Now I'll be working on my other AU with Nightmare in Knighton. Thanks for reading, everybody!**


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